-The Hindu Constitutions are needed not only to limit wielders of existing power but to empower those traditionally deprived of it The recent judgment by the Supreme Court clarifying the respective jurisdictions of Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor and its elected representatives and specifying the limits of their powers once again underlies how fortunate we are to have the Constitution. Why should gratitude be expressed for living under a constitutional democracy? Why do we...

-TheWire.in Not only has year-on-year MSP Growth been much higher in previous years, the government still remains silent on how it will manage to increase procurement. The Narendra Modi government recently approved the decision to hike the minimum support price (MSP) for the kharif marketing season for 2018-19. The MSP for paddy has been increased by Rs 200 per quintal, and the MSP has gone up for other crops too. The minister of...

-The Hindu Besides the missing informal sector, over-estimation of output Growth also offers clues Are the latest employment estimates by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) factually correct? No. They are off the mark, and confined to the economy’s organised or formal sector, accounting at best for 15% of the workforce. Is there a paradox in high output Growth rates and the marginal effect on employment? Probably not, if one acknowledges that GDP...

-Livemint.com Agriculture is not only crucial for what happens to Growth, inflation and rural distress, it is also politically important given the simmering discontent among farmers in the last two years Last week, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) declared that the south-west monsoon has covered the entire country, 15 days earlier than normal. This may be a cause for celebration considering the distress in agriculture in the last four years. Agriculture is...

-Livemint.com The concerns about the downsides of these schemes are overblown, and they could go some way in alleviating rural woes Since the Union Budget 2018-19, there has been a great deal of discussion in the public domain regarding the health of the rural sector. We believe that the rural sector needs some policy intervention, be it price support or income support. As a case in point, the agri gross domestic product...