A recent report by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) enlightens one about the state of farmers' income and indebtedness in 2015-16. Entitled NABARD All India Rural Financial Inclusion Survey 2016-17 – in short NAFIS 2016-17 – the report says that between 2012-13 and 2015-16 the average monthly income for agricultural households grew by around 39 percent. One may recall that the Key Indicators of Situation Assessment Survey...
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Amarjeet Sinha, Rural development secretary, interviewed by Sayantan Bera and Elizabeth Roche (Livemint.com)
-Livemint.com Rural development secretary Amarjeet Sinha on how MGNREGS has evolved since 2006 to result in income, acreage, water tables, productivity and fodder availability Agrarian distress and rural distress are terms used interchangeably, but the rural economy today is very different from what it was many years ago, given the diversification of rural incomes and hence incorrect to think one means the other, says Amarjeet Sinha, secretary, ministry of rural development. In...
More »The misery of farmers in the midst of plenty -Himanshu
-Livemint.com For the first time during the tenure of the present government, overall inflation of food articles is negative, implying a decline in prices Last week the India Meteorological Department (IMD) presented its first forecast for the monsoon this year. The forecast at 97% of the long period average (LPA) suggested yet a third year of normal monsoon rains, following 2016 and 2017. This should have ideally brought cheer to farmers struggling...
More »Budget 2018: Focus on MSP ideal for tackling farm distress -Ramesh Chand
-The Economic Times The agriculture sector and farmers are passing through a difficult phase. The sector suffered a blow from back-to-back droughts during 2014-15 and 2015-16 followed by low and depressed farm level prices during 2016-17 and kharif 2017, mainly due to global price trends. This has intensified the demand for ensuring MSP (minimum support price) and raising MSP. The forthcoming budget needs to take a call to launch effective measures to...
More »Will FM Arun Jaitley give a rural touch to Budget 2018 or will he hold on to fiscal prudence? -Shantanu Nandan Sharma
-The Economic Times After Gujarat returned the ruling BJP with a slim margin, the chorus of the establishment was "jo jeeta wohi sikandar" (He who wins is the king). It seemed apt, considering that the party retained Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, bunking anti-incumbency of 22 years. But opposition wags responded with "jo sikha wohi sikandar", he who learns will be king, in 2019, in the next general elections. Rural Gujarat,...
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