International prices of most agricultural commodities are on the rise again. Prices of major food crops have increased disconcertingly, with wheat, rice, maize and soybean registering double-digit increases between June and October. Wheat prices increased alarmingly by more than 71%, while maize recorded a more than 50% spike. The Food Price Index released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the most widely accepted barometer for food prices, also painted...

Two of the UPA's flagship programmes, the Unique Identity Number project (UID) and Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme are on a collision course. "I am not against technology, by I think linking the Unique Identity Number project to  NREGA can be very dangerous," said Jean Dreze, Member , National Advisory Council. Right now, all that a person needs to ask for work under NREGA is to fill up a form and get the...

RTI activist Akhil Gogoi today said he had a strong suspicion that another scam, like the LoC scam that took place during the AGP regime led by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, had taken place during the tenure of chief minister Tarun Gogoi. “The people of Assam are well aware that an LoC scam took place during Prafulla Mahanta’s rule but we have a strong suspicion that another LoC-like scam took place during...

Healthcare in Assam will no longer remain confined to hospitals and dispensaries. Come January, Dispur will take healthcare to the doorsteps of people living in villages and remote parts of the state. Assam health and family welfare minister Himanta BISwa Sarma today announced that an ambitious scheme, on the lines of the raijor padulit raijor sarkar (people’s government at people’s doorstep) would be launched in January 2011 to make healthcare accessible to...

The pattern of land distribution has rendered rural landscape of UP disfavourable for farming. The precursor for this is the fragmentation of cultivable land into a large number of `small landholdings'. The process set under the demographic pressure, has caused marginalisation of a vast majority of farmers and posed a severe challenge to the prospects of rural economy and the growth of agriculture in future. Going by the official figure, UP...