-TwoCircles.net Punjab is considered to be one of the most prosperous states in India.A study came out a few days ago that states that 98% of rural households are in debt.The average amount of debt per household is close to 5 Lakh Rupees. The report points out that more than half of the debt is to non institutional lenders,the Arhtias,the middlemen and money lenders.Small and marginal farmers can not go to...
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Don’t leave out the small farmer -S Chandramohan
-The Hindu Business Line Whether it is promoting a lease market in land or the use of tractors, credit should be tailored to the needs of marginal players The Finance Minister has announced several measures to make farming competitive and rev up growth in agriculture. While this is welcome, the sector as a whole needs an overhaul to make best use of these measures. To address the needs of landless farmers who are...
More »Will these sustainable development goals do the job? -Carla Kweifio-Okai
-The Guardian A UN working group has devised a final draft of targets to succeed the millennium development goals. What do you think of the 17 proposals? The UN working group responsible for crafting the sustainable development goals (SDGs) has handed down its final proposal, adding a goal to address domestic and global inequality. The recommendations include 17 goals and 169 targets to be achieved by 2030. The list includes a reworking of...
More »Union Budget and the 'Digital Divide': Old Wine in New Bottle -Vipul Mudgal
-Economic and Political Weekly The emphasis on use of digital technologies to bridge the "rural-urban gap" in the union budget is limited to high talk and minimal allocations. The need for a more comprehensive and peoples' participation-oriented rural action plan should have been the focus while setting sectoral allocations, but that is not to be in this mid-year budget. Vipul Mudgal (vipulmudgal@gmail.com) heads the Inclusive Media for Change project at the Centre...
More »Number 135
-The Indian Express India's ranking on human development is a reminder that the state is shrinking where it must not. India has improved, but only just, on the human development index, the United Nations' composite measure for overall well-being that takes into account life expectancy, income and education. According to the UN Human Development Report 2014 released this week, India ranks 135 on a list of 186 countries. It has become...
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