-The Business Standard A delayed monsoon and abundant cotton in the international market could spell trouble in the state's suicide zone Yavatmal (Maharashtra): As the skies stayed clear till the second week of June, Ramesh Gulabhrao Digde's mood darkened. His two acres were ploughed at great expense, the seeds were purchased, and a sack of fertilisers lay in a corner of his thatch-roofed hut in Parsodi village in western Maharashtra's Yavatmal...
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Farmer suicides reflect growing desperation in rural India -Shashank Bengali
-Los Angeles Times Chandan Savargaon: The day before his little sister's engagement party, Vibhishan Tapse was in a buoyant mood. He laughed with his mother and teased the bride-to-be as they prepared food and set out sweets for 200 guests who would begin arriving the next morning. Months earlier, the 23-year-old Tapse had told his father: You paid for my two older sisters' weddings. Let me take care of this one. That meant...
More »Andhra Pradesh counters RBI's claims -Jinka Nagaraju
-The Times of India In a sternly-worded letter dashed off to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Andhra Pradesh government has urged the institution to not underestimate the distressful conditions prevailing in the state for the past three years, which has forced as many as 6,792 farmers to commit suicide. The nine-page letter dated July 25, countering RBI's argument about AP reporting no cases of acute concern among farmers, has been...
More »The debt trap -Jaspal Singh
-TwoCircles.net Punjab is considered to be one of the most prosperous states in India.A study came out a few days ago that states that 98% of rural households are in debt.The average amount of debt per household is close to 5 Lakh Rupees. The report points out that more than half of the debt is to non institutional lenders,the Arhtias,the middlemen and money lenders.Small and marginal farmers can not go to...
More »Ram Vilas Paswan, the minister in charge of food and public distribution talks with Sanjeeb Mukherjee
-The Business Standard Interview with Union minister in charge of food and public distribution Ever since the new government took office in May, food prices and related issues have been one of the most discussed subjects. Ram Vilas Paswan, the minister in charge of food and public distribution, says hoarders are to blame. And, speaks of the various other priorities under his charge. Edited exceprts of a talk with Sanjeeb Mukherjee: * The...
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