The new consumer price indices set to debut in January will be compilations of indices for states that reflect the price trends prevailing in the country accurately, helping policy formulation and targeted intervention. Each state will have two consumer price indices, one for rural and another for urban areas. These CPI rural and urban will be added up to arrive at urban and rural retail indices at the national level. These...

Can the government break its own laws? That seems to be the case when it comes to minimum wages in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), which makes the government the employer of the world’s largest workforce of close to 35 million job-card holders. In 19 states, the workers are getting less than the minimum wages in their areas, with the rural development ministry and the labour ministry looking the...

Liberalisation of agricultural trade has worsened food security of South Asia, a study says. The report by Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre (MHHDC), an Islamabad-based research organisation also found that farm trade liberalisation increased the number of hungry people by 28.8 million. Private research organisation, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), organised launching of the report, 'Human Development in South Asia - 2009: Trade and Human Development' in Dhaka on Thursday. The...

Tomoto price has plummeted to Rs. 4 a kg in the wholesale markets in Royakottai, Krishnagiri, Shoolagiri and Hosur because of a bumper crop this season. The price now ranges between Rs. 4 and Rs. 5 a kg. Because of the substantial drop in the price and increase in prices of inputs and seeds and workers' wages tomato farmers have incurred heavy loss. Hosur is one of the prime agricultural belts...

Eminent economist and Vice-Chairman of the Kerala State Planning Board Prabhat Patnaik said on Saturday that the euphoria in official circles over financial inclusion has risen because of the “systematic scaling down of institutional credit to the peasantry and other productive sectors in the last two decades”. Delivering the centenary lecture dedicated to the memory of Prabhat Kar, a pioneer of the trade union movement in the banking industry, Mr....