-The Indian Express Gamlina’s response is just one example of how distant this government is from the lives of the poor and how tokenistic its schemes are. Gamlina Soren, an elected panchayat member in Jharkhand, sounded upset. She had been told by a local BJP functionary that gas cylinders were going to be “gifted” to poor women by the Centre but that they must have a BPL card. “But most poor Adivasi...
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Ashok Gulati, chair professor for agriculture at ICRIER, interviewed by Jahnavi Sen (The Wire)
-TheWire.in This year’s Union Budget markets itself as a pro-poor and pro-farmer budget. To take a closer and harder look at this, The Wire spoke to Ashok Gulati, chair professor for agriculture at ICRIER. Gulati tells The Wire why this budget is insignificant for reducing farmers’ distress, in spite of all the talk. Edited excerpts from the interview follow: * How much is the actual increase in the total allocation to agriculture...
More »A Union budget for the village -Himanshu
-The Indian Express Government must address the stress in the rural economy, seen in falling wages and incomes, which could reverse recent progress in rural areas Last year in February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had exhorted voters to vote for his party in the Delhi assembly election, claiming that his victory in the general election had brought luck to the country. Unfortunately, the voters of urban Delhi were not convinced and...
More »Subsidies: Plug subsidy leaks to help fiscal consolidation
-Business Standard Conventional subsidy bill of Rs 2.44 lakh crore, or 1.7 per cent of GDP, in 2015-16 If lower tax rate is equivalent to subsidising, the National Democratic Alliance government is clearly targeting the 'well-off' segment of the population. Unlike the previous years, the Economic Survey 2015-16 has dealt with the issue of subsidy by giving only a box on petroleum subsidies, while devoting a chapter with nine-and-a-half pages to 'Bounties...
More »No consensus among states on use of GM tech -Sanjeeb Mukherjee
-Business Standard However, the states have broadly agreed to most other issues raised by NITI Aayog task force, including legalising land lease Consensus seems to have eluded a NITI Aayog task force on agriculture on use of genetically modified (GM) technology in pulses and oilseeds from state governments. However, state governments have broadly agreed to most other issues raised by the task force, including legalising land lease. Officials said the task force, which...
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