-TheWire.in Banks are deducting ‘crop insurance premiums’ from farmers’ current accounts without their knowledge. In the Bhivani district of Haryana, a 49-year-old farmer, Bansi Lal, complained that Rs 2,480 was deducted from an account that was linked to his Kissan Credit Card (KCC), without his knowledge. Upon enquiry, the bank informed him that the money was deducted under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY). But when he told the bank that...

-Livemint.com Narendra Modi’s election promise in Uttar Pradesh comes back to haunt as other states demand the Union govt offer an agriculture bailout package across the country New Delhi: An election promise to farmers in the politically sensitive state of Uttar Pradesh is coming back to haunt Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as other states demand the Union government offer an agriculture bailout package across the country. During the hard-fought election campaign, Modi pledged...

-The Hindu Business Line Aadhaar does more damage than good in welfare programmes It is widely believed that Aadhaar-Based Biometric Authentication (ABBA) is necessary to improve the delivery of welfare programmes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), Public Distribution System (PDS), social security pensions, and so on. This is a misconception. We have been studying these programmes for a decade, focusing mainly on the source of leakages and...

-Livemint.com In the case of repeated farm loan waivers, it makes sense for borrowers to default strategically Hope: The Narendra Modi government says it wants to double farm income by 2022 through the transformation of Indian agriculture. Reality: The political discourse continues to focus perversely on farm loan waivers. Here are some recent instances. The new Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh is considering a farm loan waiver as promised in its election...

-DNA The political funding reforms are an embarrassment to India’s claims of heralding a transparency revolution Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetization drive and his expressed desire to bring transparency in political funding, there were expectations of more concrete measures to cleanse the Augean stables of Indian politics. The government responded quickly, albeit through the Finance Bill. For the first time, the Union Budget 2017 devoted a full section (420...