-The Hindu The former Chief Statistician on calculating GDP back series, on indicators of development, and the fall of the rupee The draft of the back series GDP data, which was made public by the government recently, is unlikely to change drastically even if other methods of calculation are used, says former Chief Statistician of India, Pronab Sen. The noted economist discusses GDP, employment and poverty data; the value of the rupee;...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Minimum support price: Unkept promises on cost mitigation, bad formula to determine MSP compound farm woes -Angarika Gogoi
-Firstpost.com Farmers across India are sceptical about the promised benefits of the minimum support price (MSP) promised by the government for their kharif crop. In a press release, the government announced that the MSP would be set at 50 percent over the cost of production and vowed to double farmers’ incomes by 2022. As Amrinder Singh Punia, a farmer and general secretary of the Punjab Agricultural University Kisan Club, points out, “Government...
More »Political slugfest over Delhi starvation deaths; spotlight on right to food
-PTI NEW DELHI: A political slugfest broke out today over the starvation deaths of three minors including a toddler in the national capital, with the BJP-led central government attacking the Kejriwal dispensation for the incident, which has yet again put the spotlight on lack of basic needs for a large section of the society. The horrific deaths taking place in Delhi came as a big shock with the state's per capita income...
More »Reform agriculture marketing systems to address farm distress -Sudipto Mundle
-Livemint.com The actual determination of MSP is driven by a ‘business as usual’ practice of incremental increases in line with past trend, combined with the political need for ‘look good’ optics The recent increase in the minimum support prices (MSP) for major kharif crops has reignited the debate about food price policy. Some analysts believe that the increase has been excessive, that it will push up inflation, both directly and also indirectly...
More »The wait for deep agricultural reforms -Siraj Hussain
-Livemint.com While there are several creditable achievements, it is the deeper structural reforms where expectations from a strong government have not been met Amidst expectations of a magical transformation of the Indian economy, the Narendra Modi government took over the reins in May 2014. During the election campaign, people were led to believe that the Gujarat model of agricultural development, which delivered 8% growth in agriculture during fiscal years 2003-14, would be...
More »