-Frontline If Budget 2015 is any indication, the Modi government is going beyond what could be called benign neglect of agriculture to policy moves that are likely to harm its viability. IT is scarcely surprising that farmers are upset with the Narendra Modi government. Indeed, the rosy dreams created by that famous campaign advertisement of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), when farmers spoke of the high crop prices and better cultivation conditions...

-Outlook Corporate karza maafi reaches new heights, social spending new lows This year's budget write-off in customs duty on gold, diamonds and jewellery (all aam aadmi items, of course) is Rs 75,592 crore. That's well over twice the "record" amount allocated to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. As Prof Jayati Ghosh points out, the MNREGA has given billions of person-days of work to tens of millions of poor...

-The Hindu Business Line Chennai: The Fourteenth Finance Commission has formulated its recommendations without any reference to the distinction between Plan and non-Plan outlays. This will facilitate greater attention to maintenance expenditure, and reduce incentives to boost capital works and show large-sized plans, said YV Reddy, Chairman of the Commission and former Governor of the RBI. Delivering the Raja J Chelliah Memorial Lecture at the Madras School of Economics on Monday, Reddy...

-The Indian Express With the land acquisition ordinance set to lapse on April 5 and a united opposition blocking the amendment bill in the Rajya Sabha, the government is set to prorogue parliament after March 20 to facilitate re-promulgation of the ordinance. While the budget session, which began on February 20, is set to continue till May 8, a month-long recess is scheduled from March 20 to April 20. But the government...

-The Indian Express Given indicators that the government is considering moving to cash transfers and replacing the public distribution system (PDS), and the release of the Shanta Kumar Committee report, the debate on how best to provide food security has been rekindled. The report has a careful analysis of the sources of inefficiency at various stages of the procurement, storage and distribution system. Especially heartening is the admission that the Food...