-The Hindu Interest subvention retained, rice storage exempt from service tax Lauding the "stellar performance" of the agriculture sector, Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday announced a farm growth of 4.6 per cent in the current year, up from 3.1 per cent achieved during UPA-I. He said the government set an agriculture credit target of Rs. 8 lakh crore for 2014-15, against Rs.7.35 lakh crore expected this year. The interest subvention scheme for...
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Migration back to villages-Devinder Sharma
-DNA The government's lack of focus on agriculture shows its lopsided priorities. In the coming months, about 1.5 crore farmers who quit agriculture in the past seven years, are likely to trudge back into the villages. In normal circumstances such a massive reverse migration - from the cities back to the villages - would have been a sign of inclusive growth. But economists are taking this U-turn as a sign of...
More »Public Distribution System Reforms and Consumption in Chhattisgarh -Prasad Krishnamurthy, Vikram Pathania, and Sharad Tandon
-Economic and Political Weekly Chhattisgarh's public distribution system reforms have been lauded as a model for the National Food Security Act, and as one that other states can emulate. Previous research has shown that PDS rice consumption increased in Chhattisgarh following reforms by the Raman Singh government, which began in 2004. However, one-third of PDS rice consumption growth in Chhattisgarh took place before 2004. This finding suggests that the pre-2004 reforms...
More »Punjab agriculture: fresh concerns, forgotten remedies -PPS Gill
-The Hindustan Times A "progressive Punjab agriculture summit", scheduled in SAS Nagar from February 16 to 19 is a welcome step. The event comes close on the heels of an earlier summit on industry. Together, agriculture and industry form a strong fulcrum for Punjab's economic growth and prosperity. However, at present, both are in a grip of crisis; and perhaps unable to face the future challenges/opportunities on their own. It calls for...
More »Between 2010 and 2012, pace of job creation was slowest in a decade -Chetan Chauhan
-The Hindustan Times A sea of young people on a Delhi Metro last week offered a glimpse into the despair within young India. Most had taken the train from Delhi University — a hub of students from across the country — to the heart of the city, to take a test and apply for a job with a national bank. But there were only a few thousand vacancies — and 100,000 youngsters...
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