-The Indian Express Interim budget does little to tackle unemployment, poverty. And it is clear that the government’s figures cannot be trusted. Last month, I was part of an all-party delegation of MPs from Karnataka, led by a Union cabinet minister, who met the Union rural development minister. We requested him to release the MGNREGA funds overdue to Karnataka. We pleaded that the poorest of the poor, who turn to MGNREGA...

-TheWire.in A figure is based on data compiled by farmer union Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan). New Delhi: Debt has continued to overwhelm farmers in Punjab since the rollout of Congress’s loan waiver scheme in January 2018. Four hundred thirty farmers and farm labourers with outstanding loans ranging between Rs 1-20 lakh committed suicide in the intervening one year period, the Indian Express reported. The data, which is based on revenue department and police records,...

-National Herald Well-known Belgian-Indian economist Jean Drèze, reflects on the times we live in this animated conversation with Ujjawal Krishnam Jean Drèze, the Belgian-Indian economist, true to his reputation, laces humour and an acerbic wit to reflect on the times we live in. Self deprecating, he brushes aside the question how he juggles between his roles as economist, activist and teacher. He wonders at the multi-tasking ability of Indian women instead. Nor...

-Business Standard Ex Plan panel member also says demonetisation took a huge toll on cultivators and labourers; favours loan waivers, is skeptical about cash support scheme New Delhi:  Former member of the erstwhile Planning Commission, Abhijit Sen, has said that the ambitious aim of doubling farmers’ incomes is impossible target in the period the government has set for it. Addressing an Economics Summit organised by Sri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi,...

-The Indian Express To address farmers' woes, we need a multi-pronged strategy of income support, government investment, and institutional innovations, and not a one-size-fits-all approach. The two main policy interventions repeatedly discussed in recent months to tackle farmer distress — loan waivers and minimum support prices (MSP) — treat all farmers (large/small, male/female) alike. But farmers are heterogeneous. They differ especially by income, land owned and gender. And farmer dissatisfaction is...