-TheWire.in Protesting farmers are planning to encircle the assembly and press for demands they feel the government has betrayed them on: crop prices, a loan waiver, forest rights, procurement and more. Shankar Waghere flings his plastic bag on the ground and hunches over on his wooden cane to gather his breath. Then he kneels down, panting, and closes his eyes. They remain shut for the next 15 minutes. It’s been a lot...

-Down to Earth While reorganising land rights for rural women may be an arduous and long-drawn task, alternative solutions can be adopted The United Nations observes October 15 as International Rural Women’s Day to highlight the contribution of rural women to the world’s economic development. Taking cue from this, the Government of India declared October 15 as Rashtriya Mahila Kisan Diwas in 2017. This was a welcome step, especially in the...

-The Hindu Rather than just increased budgetary outlays, farmers need plans that will rescue them from Crop Failure Similar to the last two Budgets, this year’s pro-agriculture intentions are palpable through increased outlays to the agricultural sector and initiation of various programmes. They seem impressive, but closer scrutiny shows that the measures may be of little help to stem the tide of agrarian distress. There are some real challenges confronting three...

-The Indian Express Únion Budget 2018: Budget addresses the crises in agriculture. The devil is in the allocations All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”. In Anna Karenina, only if a person is satisfied on all counts will she be happy. The allocations in the budget cover every sector, with umpteen implications, and no person’s expectations can be fulfilled on all counts. While every...

According to the document entitled Green Paper on Farmers, Farming & Rural Economy 2018: 4 Years - 4 Budgets: What Has This Central Government Delivered?, which has been prepared by Jai Kishan Andolan, Swaraj India, ASHA and Rythu Swarajya Vedika (published on 30 January, 2018): Far from giving farmers and farming ‘the highest priority’ during a period when they most needed the governmental support, the present NDA government has tried to...