-The Tribune While there are have been debates about the plight of farmers, hardly have we ever heard or read anything about the condition of agricultural labourers. They are the victims of economic downturn in the rural sector. THE economy of Punjab today, embroiled in various economic issues, is showing signs of crisis in the agrarian sector. We often hear and read about the woes of the farmers who are committing suicides,...

-NDTV Solapur: As thousands of villages in the country come under the grip of drought, the role of the government's flagship work guarantee scheme, NREGA or National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, becomes crucial. In January, the Union government told the Supreme Court  that for all drought-hit states, NREGA's 100-day LIMit has been increased to 150 days. But travelling this week through Marathwada in Maharashtra, the country's drought central, in village after village we...

-Business Standard Lower output and inadequate policy are some of the reasons Price of pulses has once again started rising with chana trading at Rs 58 per kg in the wholesale market and tur dal set to touch Rs 200 per kg-level in the retail market. Apart from lower crop in India and globally, thoughtless use of policy tools has contributed to the price rise. Government agencies have created a buffer stock of...

-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 Proximity to the nearest well has become crucial in the selection of grooms. HAMIRPUR: A tumbler tucked under her armpit, Bhuri trudged along the dusty broken path to the “Pahadi wali Ma ka Mandir.” The exhaustion on the 48-year-old Kumhar woman’s face was apparent as she approached the hill in the blazing sun. But the hill hosts more than a goddess — the well at its foot is the only natural...