-The Indian Express In 2014-15, the government spent Rs 5,721 crore under nine schemes formulated by the Government of India to provide social security cover to the unorganised workers. Ahmedabad: During the ten-year period between 2001-11 when the number of landless agricultural workers decreased in states like Kerala and Goa, it rose in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. As per the Census 2011, there are about 14.43 crore landless...

-PTI Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have reported the most number of districts, 50 and 46 respectively, affected due to water shortage New Delhi: Over 300 districts in 13 states of the country, including Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, are facing shortage of drinking water, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday. “...as reported by the states, 308 districts are affected in respect of shortage of drinking water supply in...

-Livemint.com New Delhi: Despite widespread drought in 11 states across the country, India’s foodgrain production is actually set to grow marginally, the third advance estimates released by the agriculture ministry on Monday showed. Total foodgrain production in 2015-16 is estimated at 252.23 million tonnes, marginally higher than 252.02 million tonnes produced in 2014-15, the data shows. If the estimates hold up, it would imply that the damage to the agrarian economy is less...

-The Hindu The way forward may be to not rely only on dams, interlinked rivers, and borewell drilling — but to supplant these with effective water conservation, storage and groundwater recharge For the past one week, The Hindu has explored the multi-faceted crisis of water scarcity that has gripped India this summer, through a daily series titled ‘Last Drop’. The series sought to give our readers a comprehensive understanding of six critical...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Cultivable land in the country is decreasing by 0.03 million hectares every year but the situation is not alarming, government said in Rajya Sabha today. "The average cultivable land is reducing by 0.03 million hectares per year. But land productivity has increased slowly. It is not an alarming situation," Minister of State for Agriculture Sanjiv Baliyan said during Question Hour, adding that the net sown area has remained almost...