The survey called for a “Second Green Revolution with technological breakthrough in the agriculture sector” to boost farm output and ensure the food security of the country The Economic Survey on Friday pegged the country’s agriculture sector growth at 5.4% in the current fiscal, as against 0.4% in the previous year. The survey also called for a “Second Green Revolution with technological breakthrough in the agriculture sector” to boost farm output and...

Chief minister Arjun Munda is all set to revive the Jharkhand State Planning Board — first formed during his second innings as head of state — to assist his government in drawing up development plans based on scientific assessment of available resources. The move comes close on the heels of the government setting up a three-member panel, headed by noted economist Bibek Debroy, to prepare the state’s development report. Speaking to The...

KEY TRENDS   • Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $ • The amendments have now...

One of the most intriguing features of India's agrarian economy in recent years is the persistence of agrarian distress in many regions, even while agricultural credit flow has risen sharply. Rising flow of credit to agriculture is normally associated with buoyancy in the farm sector. A closer look at the data on agricultural credit reveals that what is termed agricultural credit may have very little to do with agriculture, the...

The planned National Food Security Act represents a unique opportunity to achieve gains with respect to the public distribution system. However, the current draft is a non-starter. When I first visited Surguja district in Chhattisgarh nearly 10 years ago, it was one of those areas where the Public Distribution System (PDS) was virtually non-functional. I felt constrained to write, at that time, that “the whole system looks like it has been...