-TheWire.in Any policy that seriously intends to reduce poverty and deprivation should increase social sector spending and look to universalise basic services. On Monday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi promised a minimum income guarantee scheme or Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) if voted to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The proposal involves a transfer of Rs 72,000 per year to 20% of the poorest families in India. He claimed that this “is...

-The Hindu Business Line Letting farmers use Kisan Credit Card for non-farm use for a limited time can help improve credit facility to small farmers The returns earned by farmers, who have access to formal credit, are on an average 17 per cent higher than what farmers, who are dependent on informal sources including loan sharks, earn, said an agricultural economist. Besides, access to institutional credit increases the per capita monthly consumption expenditure...

-TheWire.in The scheme is far from being inclusive and will likely exacerbate already unequal social and economic conditions. The focal point of this year’s budget has been the announcement of a new centrally-sponsored scheme, the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kishan Samman Nidhi’ (PM-KISAN). This scheme assures small and marginal farm households a guaranteed annual income support of Rs 6,000. However, this scheme is hardly the first instance of agricultural income support in the country. States...

-Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) Land rights structurally escape women. This is a fundamental issue in understanding why women’s work as farmers is largely invisible. However, the large-scale migration of men towards pursuing other non-farm employment opportunities due to the worsening agrarian crisis has pushed more women into this sector. Work is not homogenous and neither are women or their work. Perceiving work through economic lens, the policy framework...

-The Hindu The top-down, rushed approach of the government in reaching out to farmers is likely to end in failure This year’s Interim Budget is being regarded as a big spread for farmers. The government announced its decision to transfer Rs.6,000 every year directly to 12 crore farmers holding cultivable land up to 2 hectares through the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme. While this is a progressive step, is it...