-IdeasforIndia.in Usharmukti, a project of the Government of West Bengal, is being carried out in collaboration with civil society organisations in the western part of the state, to carry out watershed activities under MNREGA to conserve soil and water. In this note, Ashwini Kulkarni describes the main idea behind and working of the innovative project from her visit to the project area. When a farmer says that with potato in Rabi season...

-Livemint.com New government data show India saw fewer cases of farmers taking their lives in 2018 than the year before. But this doesn’t mean Rural Distress is down. Much needs to be done It is tempting to relate the decline in the number of farmer suicides in 2018, as reported by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), to an abatement in Rural Distress. Such a temptation should, however, be tempered. There have...

-Newsclick.in The Centre had promised to release funds in a week’s time about two weeks back. At a time when the crisis-ridden economy has pushed millions against the wall, with many not being able to make ends meet, the employment guarantee scheme (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005) is adding to the distress of the poor—instead mitigating it. In Rajasthan, funds that are yet to be released for the payment of...

-Livemint.com India’s manufacturing sector is moving out of costly and congested cities to rural areas in order to stay competitive. But poor infrastructure is hampering its growth The global economic downturn has raised concerns about the effectiveness of conventional economic policies, which were designed for stabilization, and not for reviving growth in developing countries. Rural Distress, spatial disparities, the gender divide and climate change, all combined with the threat of low and...

-The Indian Express All crop loans should be routed through Kisan Credit Cards. This will ensure that farmers do not use the loans for non-agricultural purposes. Normally, a sector’s credit off-take is a sign of its health. Higher the off-take, the better the sector’s performance. There has been a healthy off-take of ground-level credit (GLC) in agriculture and allied sectors. In the financial year (FY) 2018-19, banks disbursed Rs 12.55 trillion...