-IndiaSpend.org The failing economics of such farms–agricultural households in the south are most indebted–are exacerbated by additional loans that families take to meet health issues, leaving them with diminished ability to invest in farming. Nearly 70% of India’s 90 million agricultural households spend more than they earn on average each month, pushing them towards debt, which is now the primary reason in more than half of all suicides by farmers nationwide,...
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The roots of rural distress -Manas Chakravarty
-Livemint.com Forgiving farm loans is no solution. The data shows there’s a far more fundamental problem—most agricultural households are unable to keep body and soul together. There’s nothing new about rural distress. Nor is it surprising. If the income of almost 70% of farm households is less than their Consumption Expenditure, according to the government’s own data, then it’s obvious they’ll be “distressed”. Yet that’s the inescapable conclusion from the National Sample...
More »South India spends most on higher education
-The Times of India MUMBAI: Education may be priceless, but the promise of a degree has seen parents across India foot large bills. Those from the rural and urban pockets of southern states spend the most, largely sign up at a private university and finance their children's dream of a technical education. On average, higher education accounts for 15.3% of the total household expenditure in rural and 18.4% in urban areas....
More »It's a farmers' movement in Maharashtra, not a strike -Yogendra Yadav
-The Tribune Farmers are determined to take it to a logical conclusion SOMETHING unusual happened last week. Farmers in Maharashtra organised an amazing ‘strike’. Last month farmers in a village of Ahmednagar decided that they would stop sending their produce — food grains, vegetables, etc. — to cities from June 1. Soon, the call was adopted by the farmers of the entire district. Before anyone could realise, this resolve had extended to...
More »The Indian economy finally bares its demonetisation scars -Manas Chakravarty
-Livemint.com Very low GDP growth in the fourth quarter indicates that the slowdown is likely to persist in the current quarter as well Finally, the impact of demonetisation is visible in the gross domestic product (GDP) numbers. Gross value-added (GVA) growth at constant prices fell to a mere 5.6% in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2017 (FY17), clearly showing the scars of demonetisation on the economy. That’s not all. The headline growth...
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