-NDTV There is the reality of a farmer's suicide and then there are versions of this reality. Whether you choose to accept the farmer's context of poverty, debt and extreme risk, or deny it, often depends on the class and profession you belong to. Fields pockmarked with brown mounds create a surreal setting. At least nine suicides by farmers have been linked to the crisis in West Bengal's potato belt. Farmers have...
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200 farmers committed suicide in Marathwada, says official
-PTI AURANGABAD: The total number of farmers who committed suicide during the last three months in the eight districts of Marathwada region has crossed 200, official sources said here today. The main reason behind taking the extreme step is bankruptcy due to loans which cannot be repayed due to crops destroyed by natural calamities. Notably, last year, 510 farmers ended their lives. As of 2015, families of 105 farmers who ended their lives,...
More »A new public policy for a new India -Shiv Visvanathan
-The Hindu What makes public policy exciting and potentially inventive is the contested nature of the public sphere. It is anchored in a diversity of perspectives which challenges the dominance of one subject. India is a country full of paradoxes. The elite in the country are forward-looking; they emphasise the need for reskilling but they conduct all this with backward-looking institutions. An acute observer once said: "we want to be [a] knowledge...
More »The Invisible Casualties of India's Agrarian Crisis -Niha Masih & Shyam Balasubramanian
-NDTV Lucknow: Unseasonal rain and hailstorm in March have brought Uttar Pradesh to the brink of an agrarian crisis, affecting 25 of the state's 80 districts. Crop losses have dealt a particularly severe blow to landless farmers, who are emerging the invisible casualties of the agrarian crisis. Unseasonal rain has destroyed crops on large tracts of farmland. And landless farmers, who usually till farmlands leased or rented from landowners, fall through...
More »Centre sanctions Rs. 200 cr. for flood-hit J&K
-PTI Jammu: The Centre on Monday sanctioned Rs. 200 crore for immediate rescue and relief operations in flood-hit Jammu and Kashmir, said Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed to the Assembly in Jammu today, according to an official press release which came in the form of a clarification. The clarification was issued after Mr. Sayeed told the Assembly that "I have authorised release of Rs 225 crore in favour of Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir....
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