-Livemint.com Industry estimates suggest two-wheeler sales for fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22) will close out at 14.5 million units, the lowest volume in almost a decade. This betrays a deep distress in incomes of rural households. Mint explains the fault lines: * Why are two-wheeler sales falling? Rural demand contributes 50-60% of two-wheeler sales in the commuter segment. Price increases, rising fuel prices and unseasonal rains leading to poor crop realizations have hit the...

-IndiaToday.in The recent National Family Health Survey that was conducted between 2019 and 2021 busts many myths and also confirms some ugly realities of India. Numbers and data should be the two deities that any self-respecting media professional should respect and revere. Unfortunately, in the din and noise of acrimonious debates that revolve around matters of faith, a treasure trove of fascinating data that showcases an India that is both changing and...

-Newsclick.in Agri expert Devinder Sharma says today, as in the past, commodity trading, massive speculation and unfair terms of trade are behind rising food prices. As India battles food price inflation, Devinder Sharma, a well-known trade and agriculture expert, explains why Indian policymakers should boost farm incomes to revive the economy. “If farmers, comprising 50% of the country’s population, were to receive a higher income through a guaranteed MSP, it would create...

-The Hindu Reviving the official household spending survey is only a first step India’s official statistical machinery is gearing up to relaunch the All-India Household Consumer Expenditure Survey, traditionally undertaken quinquennially, from July 2022. If it fructifies, the result may be known towards the latter half of 2024, provided the Government permits the release. The last such Survey (2017-18), did not get such a sanction — its results reportedly indicated the first...

-Press release by the Right to Food Campaign Secretariat dated February 23, 2022 * 66 percent respondents said that their income has decreased compared to the pre-pandemic period * 80 percent reported some form of food insecurity, 25 percent reported severe food insecurity * 41 percent said that nutritional quality of their diet deteriorated compared to the pre-pandemic period * 67 percent could not afford cooking gas in the month preceding the survey. * 45...