-Livemint.com The best way to double the real incomes of Indian farmers would be to halve their numbers through job creation in other parts of the economy The Narendra Modi government last week announced sharp increases in minimum support prices (MSPs) for a variety of farm products. The move itself is not unexpected. The first sign that the Modi government would shift away from its earlier strategy of minimal hikes to douse...
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MSP For One Third of Total Production. What About the Rest? -Subodh Varma
-Newsclick.in Govt. buys only about one third of the total rice and wheat produced and MSP is paid for that only. The recent announcement of Minimum Support Prices for 14 kharif crops including paddy and many coarse grains has been met with a frenzy of self-congratulation by the Modi govt. and the BJP, egged on by an embarrassingly sycophantic mainstream media. Many have however pointed out that the declared MSP is...
More »High on atmospherics: dealing with Punjab's drug problem -Vipin Pubby
-The Hindu Punjab needs a sober, well-thought-out strategy to deal with drug abuse During the campaign for the Punjab Assembly elections last year, Amarinder Singh, then the Congress’s chief ministerial candidate, had pledged to eradicate the State’s drug problem within four weeks of coming to power. Given the complexity of the issue, hardly anyone took his pledge seriously but it did convey his concern. After coming to power, Capt. Singh took little...
More »Fact Check: Has the BJP Really Fulfilled Its MSP Promise as It Claims? -Kabir Agarwal
-TheWire.in While the government has claimed that it has fulfilled its promise of MSP at cost plus 50%, the claim is misleading. The MSPs fall short of offering returns at 50% over comprehensive cost of production, as the BJP had promised prior to 2014. New Delhi: On July 4, the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre announced the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for the 2018-19 kharif season. In a tweet, Narendra Modi...
More »Why independents fail to make a mark in elections -Jagdeep Chhokar
-Hindustan Times The key to this problem lies in the way political and electoral financing are conducted in this country The stranglehold of political parties on the electoral and political system continues to increase with time. The anti-defection law, passed in 1985, formalised the control of political parties even on Parliament. Despite a large number of candidates on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), the candidates with a realistic chance of getting elected...
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