-TheWire.in Why is Rs 1.84 lakh crore a "frightening challenge" for banks, but Rs 10.17 lakh crores not? The great farm loan waiver debate is back. The Congress kicked it off this time with the announcement of waivers in the newly-elected governments of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. This was followed up by similar announcements from BJP-ruled Gujarat and Assam. Rahul Gandhi even went onto to demand a nation-wide farm loan waiver from...

-Hindustan Times The agrarian crisis is one of the factors that may have resulted in the BJP’s loss in three Hindi heartland states of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in December, according to analysts, and the party clearly doesn’t want it to affect its prospects in the 2019 parliamentary elections. New Delhi: This financial year, 2018-19 could end up being the worst year for farm incomes in almost two decades, government data...

-The Indian Express West Bengal has withdrawn from flagship programme PMJAY, joining 3 other states that have stayed out. What are the reasons behind the states’ reluctance; what could this mean for the programme’s future? New Delhi: On Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that her state is withdrawing from Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). Delhi, Telangana and Odisha have stayed out of the programme, while reports...

-The Indian Express It would have made more sense — economically, legally, politically, morally, constitutionally — to have limited 10 per cent EWS reservation to those with farming or rural backgrounds The last few years have seen the so-called dominant farming communities — especially the Jats, Marathas, Patidars and Kapus — mount violent agitations demanding quotas in government jobs and higher educational institutions, whether under the OBC (Other Backward Class) or...

-Counterview.net A letter, addressed to Prime Minister narendra modi, and prepared by senior activists led by Aruna Roy on behalf of the Peoples’ Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG), and signed, among others, by 80 members of Parliament, has regretted that, despite repeated public statements by his government promising employment and job creation that will boost the country’s growth, the country’s only employment guarantee programme, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act...