-The Indian Express It is necessary to rescue public policy from its elitist bias, bring agriculture to its centre There is seldom any Independence Day speech where the prime minister, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, does not thank the jawans and kisans for their heroic role in securing our borders and ensuring food security. This year is unlikely to be different. Recall Lal Bahadur Shastri’s famous slogan, “Jai Jawan,...
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Monsoons and markets -Ashok Gulati
-The Indian Express These are the root causes of agricultural distress. Farmers need better irrigation and access to markets. Speaking at the foundation day celebrations of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) on July 12, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that there were reasons to smile on the economic front as India remains a bright spot, despite the global slowdown. He talked about the 7-8 per cent...
More »Thirsty in a Wi-Fi-wala village -Sarita Brara
-The Hindu Business Line Digital dreams are cheaper than a pot of drinking water in Tila Shahbazpur, near Delhi A Wi-Fi-enabled village with no potable water! Yes, this is Tila Shahbazpur, which was in the news a few months ago as the first village in Uttar Pradesh to get Wi-Fi connectivity. “While [Delhi Chief Minister Arvind] Kejriwal is yet to fulfil his promise, we have done it in no time,” boasted Samajwadi Party...
More »Atal Pension Yojana: Guaranteed, but low pension -Anand Kalyanaraman
-The Hindu Business Line The Atal Pension Yojana is intended as a safety net for workers in the informal sector The Atal Pension Yojana (APY), like the National Pension System (NPS), seeks to provide monthly pension to subscribers from the age of 60. While the APY is open to all citizens of India between 18-40 years, it is focussed on workers in the unorganised sector. Guaranteed pension The scheme has been tailored to make it...
More »Govt. targets food security of the poorest, most vulnerable
Is the Government stepping back from its responsibility under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) by giving technical reasons? Civil society organizations, which struggled to enact the Right to Food legislation, doubt that this may be the case. It has been alleged recently by several civil society activists that the Government is rolling back the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), which is meant for food security of the extremely poor households,...
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