-Down to Earth The upcoming budget will see many schemes being brought under the rural employment programme; a direct cash transfer may be declared to top this up Union Budget 2020-21 will be a Landmark for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Not just because India is going through an economic slowdown, but also for the fact that it will herald a countdown for many of his ambitious promises that come with prime ministerial...

-Down to Earth Without empowering women in farming by recognising them as farmers and giving them Land rights, agriculture can’t be sustained and so can’t the economy In Maharashtra’s 2019 Assembly elections, the Vidarbha constituencies presented interesting trends. The region is important politically not just for the stalwarts who contest from there, but also for the development issues it represents. More than three lakh farmers have committed suicide in India between 1991 and...

-The Hindu 'Grabbing private Land and claiming it as its own makes the State an encroacher’ A citizen’s right to own private property is a fundamental right. The state cannot take possession of it without following due procedure and authority of law, the Supreme Court has held in a judgment. The state cannot trespass into the private property of a citizen and then claim ownership of the Land in the name of ‘adverse...

-The Indian Express Cotton growers are realising decent rates despite bumper crop this time, thanks to government procurement. Aurangabad: In early-November, when Satyakumar Kolhe went to sell 18 out of his total 35 quintals produce of kapas (raw un-ginned cotton) at the Ambad wholesale market in Jalna district, the traders there quoted an average price of Rs 4,500 per quintal. The 45-year-old from Guru Pimpari village of Jalna’s Ghansawangi taluka, who grew...

-Press release by Food and Land Use Coalition dated 10 January 2020 India can ensure healthy diets for its growing population, improve livelihoods and plug waste by adopting better food and Land use practices New Delhi, January 10, 2020 – With a population projected to reach 1.5 billion people by 2030, and climate risks threatening food security, livelihoods, water supply and human health, India needs to urgently shift to sustainable food...