-The Hindu Revenues from appropriately charging personal transport can make public transport cheap Women may soon get to travel for free on buses and Metro trains in Delhi. This gender-based public transport fare subsidy programme, announced by the Aam Aadmi Party government, has not been tested anywhere in India in the past. Proponents claim that the policy will protect and liberate women. Critics argue that it is financially unviable and unfair. As...
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To transform the agrarian sector, a focus on deep-rooted structural issues is needed
-The Telegraph The BJP government must realize that it cannot and should not be done by income transfers alone A new scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, was announced in the interim Union budget presented earlier this year. It was stated that under this scheme farmers holding up to two hectares of land would be entitled to Rs 6,000 every year, to be paid from the budget in three equal instalments....
More »Why govt's GM policy defers logic, hurts farmers
-The Financial Express When several NGOs and others protested against the GEAC report, the UPA's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh decided not to give the final go-ahead. As farmers under the umbrella of the Shetkari Sangathana start their civil disobedience movement and plant the banned Herbicide Tolerant (HT) GM seeds as well as Bt brinjal, chances are the authorities will treat this as yet another law and order issue and will arrest them;...
More »Govt. to offer extra subsidised foodgrain -Dipak K Dash & Sidhartha
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government is set to offer additional foodgrains at subsidised rates to offload massive stocks piled up in granaries due to a liberal support price regime and also add a kilo of sugar to the monthly ration for beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Over the next few days, the Union Cabinet is expected to decide on providing additional 2 kg grains to every...
More »UP holds huge potential in agriculture -- it needs right leadership to forge forward-looking path -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express UP is truly at the crossroads: The state is uniquely poised to leverage opportunities from agriculture and build on the base laid by entrepreneurs, whether in sugar, potatoes, buffalo meat, leather or mentha oil. But, it is equally in danger of being taken back by decades, courtesy leaders with exclusivist and narrow-minded visions. Efforts to market it as an Uttam Pradesh notwithstanding, UP or Uttar Pradesh, is for...
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