-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The upcoming Budget poses a big challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There are too many demands on the Budget while the government is expected to stick to its fiscal deficit targets. Traditionally, Modi's Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has been seen to rely on middle-class voters—urban workers and small traders. But Modi's rise to power was fuelled equally by rural voters. Budget 2018-19 being the last full...

-The Tribune The farmer is crying for structural change to make the agriculture sector vibrant so that it serves as a pivot for revival of the rural economy, thereby creating employment opportunities for the youth, says Devinder Sharma After two consecutive years of back-to-back bumper harvest in 2016 and 2017, prices for almost all the crops had crashed forcing the farmers to dump their produce onto the streets at many a places....

-The Economic Times After Gujarat returned the ruling BJP with a slim margin, the chorus of the establishment was "jo jeeta wohi sikandar" (He who wins is the king). It seemed apt, considering that the party retained Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, bunking anti-incumbency of 22 years. But opposition wags responded with "jo sikha wohi sikandar", he who learns will be king, in 2019, in the next general elections. Rural Gujarat,...

-Livemint.com Farmers need structural reforms, crop diversification and greater public investment rather than subsidies and price support Indian agriculture has been relatively untouched by the structural reforms that lifted incomes in other parts of the economy. Low farm productivity meant that governments tried to improve the lot of farmers through price policy. The problem is that engineering a shift in the terms of trade through higher support prices usually leads to generalized...

-The Hindu India must exploit the potential of this technology to help farmers meet irrigation needs In the past few years, solar pumps have consistently piqued the interest of various bureaucrats and politicians. The Prime Minister spoke about solar pumps from the ramparts of the Red Fort in 2016. There is no shortage of ideas which the Centre, States, civil society organisations, and enterprises are adopting to enhance penetration of solar for...