The Orissa Agriculture Produce Markets Act was amended in 2006 to allow establishment of private markets and contract farming in the state. However, even four years after that, the act has failed to meet the expected results reasons being poor implementation at the ground level, said experts. A study, “Farmers access to market facilities in Orissa”, released by the Centre for Youth and Social Development reveals this. The act enables any person,...

Caste is feudal, the market free and equal. Correct? Ask Ratan Lal Sirswal or Deepak Jatav. Sirswal, 75, had started off as a sweeper but is now one of the oldest businessmen in Panipat, Haryana. He quit his sweeper’s job once his handloom unit was on its feet. His success, he says, came largely because he hid the fact that he was born a Valmiki Dalit. Customers who discovered his caste origins...

UNLESS THE prices of vegetables skyrocket and become a scandal — as they have over several weeks now, or as did the price of sugar last year — little in the out-of-sight world of Indian agriculture excites the imagination of the city folks, who influence, rather disproportionately, everything from government policies to newspaper content. Few of those who enjoy a hearty meal and wax lovingly on their favourite dishes can...

The Gender Hygiene Programme is attempting to change attitude towards menstrual hygiene It involves SHGs manufacturing inexpensive sanitary towels from cotton and tissue paper When women in rural areas are asked to spend Rs.15 on a packet of nine sanitary napkins, they respond by saying they would rather continue to use rags and spend the money on their husbands or children. But the Gender Hygiene Programme (GHP) launched here three years ago is...

In its visits to about 10 to 12 States across the country so far, the Central Vigilance Committee on Public Distribution System (PDS), constituted under the order of the Supreme Court, has received complaints mainly about improper working of the PDS and diversion of foodgrains into the black market. The committee, under the chairmanship of Justice D.P. Wadhwa, former judge of Supreme Court, conducted a public hearing in Puducherry on Tuesday....