-Economic and Political Weekly A categorical distinction is facing rough weather--that between urban and rural. If we take just agriculture, there is so much of the outside world that comes in not just as external markets but as external inputs. Further, many of our villages barely qualify as rural if we were to take occupation alone. So the earlier line that separated the farmer from the worker in towns is slowly...
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The Dal Is On The Boil -Lola Nayar
-Outlook Pulses are falling off the poor man’s plate. Price rise may hit the middle class next. Pulses—all-important as a source of protein—are set to be spoilers this year in the government’s endeavour to keep a check on food inflation. Already, over the last nine months, the prices of some pulses have jumped 64 per cent in major cities. This is because of below-normal monsoon last year, compounded by untimely rain and...
More »Woes of the farmer -Jaydev Jana
-The Statesman Agriculture is the source of livelihood for nearly 700 million people in India, representing a huge workforce. More than half the GDP of the rural economy is based on agriculture. It is not just a profession but a traditional occupation, a way of life. Agriculture is characterised by small and fragmented land holdings. Small (up to one hectare of land) and marginal (more than one ha and up to 2...
More »Is the MGNREGA being set up for failure? -G Sampath & Rukmini S
-The Hindu The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employee Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) has generated more rural employment than any other government scheme or private initiative in the history of independent India. At the same time, it has also generated a great deal of controversy over its merits and demerits. It would be fair to say that the policy establishment in the country right now is not favourably disposed towards the MGNREGA, with the...
More »FAO Report: Globalisation Has Hit Fisherwomen Badly
-The New Indian Express KOCHI: Globalisation and its appetite for cheap input have badly affected fisherwomen who are already grossly underpaid when compared to men in the sector or are unpaid, a report of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, published on Tuesday has observed. In the sector, with its still prevalent Old Boys’ Club behaviour, globalisation benefited some people from new emerging work and business opportunities, but...
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