-The Economic Times Yogi Adityanath’s government in Uttar Pradesh opened a Pandora’s box of loan waivers and there seems to be no stopping it. The BJP, perceived by many as a reformist party committed to addressing chronic structural issues, is taking populism to new heights. Loan waivers could prove to be a huge drain for the exchequer and might deal a blow to the creation of much-needed infrastructure in agriculture. The chief...

-Livemint.com Behind the rising tide of farmers’ protests lie several structural weaknesses facing the farm economy In a year when farm growth has crossed the 4% mark and official statistics show a record increase in production, one would have expected farmers to celebrate. Instead, farmers in states such as Madhya Pradesh and maharashtra are out on the streets protesting, and in some cases, facing bullets from the local police. What explains this...

-The Indian Express State govt starts gathering details of outstanding farm loans Chandigarh: Agitating farmers in Haryana have refused to withdraw their agitation despite the acceptance of several demands of farmers in maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Haryana farmers, who are sitting on dharna in many parts of the state, have decided to block national highways and state highways for three hours on June 16. On the other hand, keeping in view the...

-The Telegraph Bhopal: The turbaned, white-haired, kurta-dhoti-wearing "Tauji" figures are there too, but one outstanding feature of the current farmer agitation in Madhya Pradesh are its jeans-clad, smartphone-wielding spearheads. If the veteran "Kakkaji" Shiv Kumar Sharma is the public face of the movement, which lacks a central leadership, much of the spadework is being done by a band of young, bilingual, stats-savvy and largely apolitical agriculture graduates. Their leader Kedar Sirohi, who is...

-The Indian Express Demonetisation may not have hit agriculture production but it is the cause for the current unrest When demonetisation happened, many, including this writer, thought the decision, taken at the start of rabi plantings in November, would significantly impact farm production. We were proved wrong. Good monsoon rains, after successive drought years, besides the timely onset of winter conducive to germination, turned out to be strong motivations for farmers...