-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...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: If the Narendra Modi government caves in and grants a nationwide farm loan waiver, the tab could surge to a whopping Rs 3 lakh crore, dwarfing the UPA's initiative in 2008 that cost a little over Rs 52,000 crore. "We have warned that the exchequer will go bust if we grant a general amnesty on farm loans, which will cost over Rs 3 lakh crore," a senior finance...

-Scroll.in The number of LPG connections extended under this scheme may be rising rapidly, but LPG usage is not. The aim was to free poor women from smoke-filled kitchens by giving them cooking gas connections. But one year after it was launched, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana seems to have run into rough weather. On paper, the central government scheme which provides free liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, connections to below the...

-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...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A group of retired bureaucrats have written an open letter ruing the "rising authoritarianism and majoritarianism" that is choking dissent, and urging public authorities to take "corrective action" to "reclaim and defend the spirit of the Constitution". "Argumentation and discussion about different perspectives - the lifeblood not only of institutions of learning but of democracy itself -are being throttled," the letter says. "Disagreement and dissent are considered seditious...