-The Hindu The State’s recent experience shows that even the worst-governed States can reform their public distribution system and make good use of the National Food Security Act. “In Lalu’s days we had a lal card [BPL card], with Nitish we got coupons, and when Manjhi came we got this new ration card”. This is how Anuj Paswan, a Dalit resident of Tetar village in Gaya district, sees recent changes in Bihar’s...
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Madhya Pradesh brings ordinance to ease buying of farm land by private players -Milind Ghatwai
-The Indian Express Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government on Monday issued an ordinance to amend a law related to the ceiling on agricultural holdings, which will allow industrialists and private developers to easily purchase as much agricultural land as they want for non-agricultural activities. The Madhya Pradesh Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 was notified a month after the special Assembly session concluded, and just two months before the monsoon session...
More »Challenge of agrarian distress
-The Hindu Everything else can wait but agriculture cannot, said Jawaharlal Nehru. This should have been the talisman for India’s progress. Yet, successive governments have failed to accord agriculture the priority it deserves. The tragic suicide of a farmer during an Aam Aadmi Party rally in New Delhi has brought to the fore the agrarian crisis facing India. Official records reveal that more than 2.96 lakh farmers have ended their lives...
More »Lack of Clarity and Vision in New Mines and Minerals Act -EAS Sarma
-Economic and Political Weekly Much has been claimed on behalf of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act that has been enacted by Parliament, but the legislation has introduced a watered-down version of auctions, has many exceptions to legalise the old first-cum-firstserve approach, and ignores previous Supreme Court rulings on measures to ensure sustainable development. E A S Sarma (eassarma@gmail.com) is a former Union Power Secretary. With a brute majority in...
More »How to get ourselves a better land law -Sanjoy Chakravorty
-The Hindu Business Line The Congress law and the BJP's amended version both fail to address the lack of transparency in property deals A toxic mix of hypocrisy, amnesia, opportunism, ignorance, and paternalism has led to a mess on the land acquisition legislation. It seems certain that whatever law we end up with is going to be bad law. It will not serve the primary purpose of any eminent domain law -...
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