-The Economic Times Balasaheb Ghadge, who works as a clerk in the village panchayat in the tribal belt of Andar Maval in Maharashtra and also runs a small kirana store, was a staunch supporter of demonetisation when it was announced. A year on, he is worried that poor farmers continue to suffer from the government’s move. “At the national level, the decision must have yielded results, but for us, life has...

-Down to Earth As allegedly fake pesticides prove ineffective in controlling pests, farmers resort to indiscriminate spraying After a series of farmer suicides in Odisha’s Bargarh district over pest attack, the state government finally acknowledged that there are nearly 200,000 hectares of area, on which paddy is grown, has been damaged across nine districts. According to farmers, spurious pesticides were in use which proved ineffective to control Brown Plant Hopper, which first...

-Press release from NREGA Sangharsh Morcha The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Swaraj Abhiyan in the Supreme Court on the severe drought conditions in the country had drawn the attention of the Court to the inadequate effort of the Central and state governments in implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), amongst other welfare programmes. In its last judgment on issues of MGNREGA workers on 13 May...

-PTI Mumbai: Maharashtra government will provide cheap and assured electricity to farmers across the state through solar feeders in the next three years, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said. He was speaking after performing the Bhumipujan (ground breaking ceremony) for first solar project under the ’Mukhyamantri Agricultural Solar Feeder’ scheme at Ralegan Siddhi. Veteran social activist Anna Hazare was also present. “The important decision of using solar powered feeders has been taken to become...

-Down to Earth Even after an order by the Supreme Court, the government has not released the payments The flagship scheme for rural employment generation, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), is facing severe fund crunch this year, resulting in unpaid dues of Rs 3,066 crore in wage payments in 19 states. Around 87 per cent of the scheme’s budget for this year has already by exhausted. A civil...