-Firstpost.com The first reaction of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government after the party's debacle in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan seems to be to waive farm loans, which is a telling comment on the state of the agrarian distress in India and the need to pay immediate attention to the crisis. This was expected, too, since 90 percent of the rural constituencies in Madhya Pradesh...
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Promising the moon, but will they deliver?
-Livemint.com Taking a cue from election results, political parties may announce more farm loan waivers but this will do little to fix the persistent distress in rural households The drubbing of the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh has proved beyond doubt that all isn’t well in India’s hinterland. An analysis of the poll results in these three states show that the...
More »Desert blues -AM Jigeesh
-The Hindu Business Line The BJP faces its toughest battle in Rajasthan, where rural agrarian distress is more acute than elsewhere It has been a long summer for Anirudh Meena. The farmer from Kota in Rajasthan is still waiting for the government to financially compensate his brother Hukumchand Meena’s family. A garlic farmer, Humukchand took his life in May, after the price of the bulb came crashing down, leading to heavy financial...
More »Vijoo Krishnan, joint secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), interviewed by Payel Majumdar Upreti (The Hindu Business Line)
-The Hindu Business Line People from different spheres and strata of life joined farmers at the Kisan Mukti March in Delhi last month From scientists, artists and doctors to lawyers, retired jawans and students, thousands came together to support a march by farmers in Delhi last month. The November 29-30 Kisan Mukti March to Parliament, organised by The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), an alliance of over 200 farmers’ organisations,...
More »Ready for discussions with farmers, says BJP Kisan Morcha
-The Hindu 'Will take up their genuine demands with govt.’ The BJP’s Kisan Morcha has invited farmers’ groups across the country for a dialogue on rural distress after several marches and agitations by them in the last year or so, with Morcha chief Virendra Singh Mast conceding that loan waivers were a “temporary solution” to what ails the farm sector. At a press conference in New Delhi, Mr. Mast said: “I had invited...
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