-Hindustan Times The NDA government has set an ambitious target of spending 65% of its annual rural development budget by June to tackle drought and unprecedented shortage of water across the country. * Why the high expenditure? As large parts of the country reel under acute water shortage, the government will spend almost 65% of its annual budget by next month to mitigate the crisis. * What does this mean? The firm focus of the...

-The Hindu India’s record in collecting taxes has been pathetic, and it is getting worse. The declining rates of direct taxation are an indication of the political choices of the government We now have a peculiar combination in the economic policy of India: a declared attempt at fiscal consolidation, combined with a reluctance to do what it takes to raise tax revenues. This unfortunate juxtaposition has meant a squeeze on Central government...

-The Indian Express It’s not that Maharashtra has spent less on irrigation. The real problem is its high cost. Latur in Maharashtra has become a symbol of acute water scarcity. Several “jal doots” (water trains) had to ferry water to thirsty Latur. The Maharashtra government also imposed Section 144 to maintain law and order near water bodies/ distribution points. The high court intervened in the case of IPL matches and asked these...

-The Hindu Business Line The only way this story of the Indian farmer will change is if policymakers ensure better remuneration for them The peasant (in India) is born in debt, lives in debt, dies in debt and bequeaths debt. This is what Sir Malcolm Darling, a famous British researcher and writer, wrote in 1925 after studying the condition of undivided Punjab’s peasants. Had Darling been alive today he would have rephrased his...

-The Hindu Structural reforms and improving productive capacity can enhance long-term growth NITI Aayog, the government’s policy think tank, is working on a sector-based medium-term planning framework, Union Finance Secretary Ratan P. Watal told a meeting of state finance secretaries on Monday. The new planning framework could replace five-year plans, the last of which is set to end in 2016—17, Mr. Watal said. It was possible to synchronise with the finance commission cycle,...