-Hindustan Times A new report examining 25 years of India’s economic liberalisation says exclusion of a large section of Dalits and Muslims have not gained adequately from the growth unlike more influential empowered sections of the society As India’s economy grew rapidly, the inequality between the richest and the poorest rose, the number of Landless farmers increased and employment generation was lowest in 2015, says a new report examining 25 years...

-The Hindu Business Line While the idea is reasonable, the issue is so political that it will automatically ring in negative points for the implementer The subject of taxation on farm income has once again taken centre stage not just because there have been some distinguished opinions voiced on this subject but also that this has been recognised as one area where money is channelled to avoid paying taxes. As the focus...

-TheWire.in Community managed rice banks have replaced defunct government managed rice banks in several areas of Patna district in Bihar. A few years ago, Parbhawati Devi, Bichiya Devi and Meena Devi were landless farm laborers, fully at the mercy of landed farmers for their survival. But things have changed since then. Today, hundreds of women in dozens of villages in Patna district of Bihar, mostly from the marginalised Mahadalit community, have turned...

-Down to Earth Meat eating is not the key issue, it is the amount that is consumed and the manner in which it is produced. This is where India differs. Recently at the release of our book First Food: Culture of Taste, which discusses the link between biodiversity, nutrition and livelihoods, I was asked a question. “Why do you not, as an environmentalist espousing the cause of traditional and local diets that...

-Livemint.com The focus should be more on making the prime minister’s crop insurance scheme a success than demanding farm loans waivers from banks Last week, the Indian National Congress at the Maharashtra assembly submitted a breach of privilege notice against State Bank of India chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya for “insulting farmers and the House” by her remarks on farm loan waiver. The leader of the opposition in the state assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil,...