-Firstpost.com I am totally opposed to farm loan waivers as it will undermine the integrity of farmers. When state governments announce farm loan waivers, it is a knee-jerk reaction. Why are farm loans being given at all? Instead, the government should focus on the real issues that affect the agrarian sector. Since it hasn’t, you have agitations hitting the road with farmers protesting. The Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to waive off farmer...

-The Times of India Demands for loan write-offs being stonewalled by the government seems to be the primary reason driving the country's farm folk to protests that are periodically degenerating into violence. Additionally, the governments' unwillingness to increase the minimum support price (MSP) to check food-induced inflation that would impact voters, too, could be a factor. While UP government's decision on April 12 to announce loan waiver for the state's three crore farmers...

-Livemint.com Bank loans to rural India were the most affected, but other parts of the country also saw a deceleration in credit growth, RBI data shows It is, of course, well known that the growth of bank credit slowed in the second half of 2016-17 due to demonetisation. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data shows that as on 30 September 2016, the annual rate of growth of bank credit was 12.1%. That...

-The Indian Express A smooth GST regime can break inter-state barriers on movement and facilitate direct linkages between processors and farmers After more than a decade of intense discussion and debate, the GST is finally becoming a reality. Although in its current form, it is not as perfect as was originally envisaged, yet it is being lauded as one of the most transformational reforms since 1991. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was humble...

-Livemint.com The RBI-commissioned study listed faulty crop choices and aspirational consumption patterns as other major factors for farmer suicides New Delhi: Shame arising out of inability to repay loans taken from relatives and acquaintances is a key reason for farmers resorting to suicide, a study commissioned by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) found. The study titled “Lives in debt: narratives of agrarian distress and farmer suicides”, conducted by researchers at Shiv Nadar...