-Article-14.com Over 3 years to 2020, as India’s farm crisis deepened, 18 insurance companies running Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s crop-insurance scheme rejected nearly a million claims. As pandemic and pestilence devastated farms, we reveal how the scheme’s complex fine print frustrates farmers and disregards individual loss Hisar, Haryana: As 2020 began, Haryana cotton farmer Ramandeep sensed it would be harsher than the previous years: the winter rains were scanty, withering his crop...

-Livemint.com Localized lockdowns and rising covid cases among collection agents hamper loan recoveries Small finance banks are beginning to feel the heat of localized lockdowns and the advancing pandemic wave, as the virus spreads to India’s small towns and hinterland. However, they are better prepared this time, after last year’s severe setback. “The disease is spreading much faster, especially in smaller towns. Rural customers are, however, less impacted. There have been some delays...

-Down to Earth Among marginalised groups, indebtedness was highest in Muslim-majority and Scheduled Caste-majority hamlets Indebtedness became more acute in around 70 per cent hamlets surveyed in 75 Indian districts during October-December 2020, according to a study on the effects of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and lockdowns. The figure was 76 per cent in the first few months following last year’s lockdown. There was a slight dip in the indebtedness of...

-The Indian Express An arhtiya from Khanna Mandi said that they are taking blank cheques from farmers as a security, adding that both arhtiyas and farmers know that during every procurement season only pre-decided amount would be deducted. Jalandhar: Just when he was ready to harvest his standing wheat crop and ship it to the mandi, farmer Nihal Singh (name changed) from Bathinda’s Baluana village was thrown off balance by an unlikely...

-The Hindu Rabi marketing season kicks off in Punjab Saturday but, until Thursday, the state and central governments had been locked in a tussle over the mode of payment to farmers. Chandigarh/New Delhi: A “threat”, some fireworks, and a concession — it was after a super-charged two-hour meeting between its ministers and Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal Thursday that Punjab finally agreed to introduce direct benefit transfer...