-ABPLive.in In the midst of the widespread damage to standing crops from unseasonal rains, a National Crop Income Insurance Scheme has been introduced on a pilot basis. What is being perceived as a long-term solution to the prevailing Agrarian crisis, and is being pushed as an insurance against weather-related disasters as well as provide an assurance against any income shocks will only end up acerbating the crisis. The cure being suggested is...

-Livemint.com Farm-loan waivers are costly palliatives that cause long-term damage Every decade or so India's farmers finds themselves in distress. Crop prices plunge, debts mount and if there is real bad luck, the monsoon fails. Soon enough farmers begin committing suicides and in the din of noise about Agrarian distress the government of the day takes some steps. They are no more than palliatives and end up doing more harm than good. Please...

-Livemint.com Govt will be judged on how it deals with the crisis; recognizing the problem is the first step, but a lot depends on how it executes the rescue The bout of unseasonal rainfall in north India over the last few weeks has triggered fears that standing Rabi crop may have suffered extensive damage. It may or may not be true. Regardless, it has once again put the spotlight on the agriculture...

-Livemint.com A Mint analysis based on a wide range of district level indicators of assets and amenities shows how Maharashtra's wealth is very unevenly spread If India is a land of contradictions, Maharashtra is its befitting exemplar. It is at once the country's cradle of wealth and its most poignant symbol of Agrarian distress, where many millionaires are born, and many farmers commit suicides each year. Maharashtra is the wealthiest of all...

-The Hindu Business Line   Will the growth-versus-distribution debate finally be settled in favour of the former? There are few areas of settled concord in economic theory. That the dynamic of power is often determinant in the limited enclaves of consent has been evident in recent times in the growth-versus-distribution debate. Residual doubts about the tilt of current policy were laid to rest with the Economic Survey for 2014-15. In this assessment of the...