-The Indian Express Data collated from the Reserve Bank of India over the last five years shows that growth in credit outstanding for the priority sector has traditionally been rising at a much faster rate than the growth in gross bank credit An uptick in the Economy is clear from the improvement in gross bank credit availability but unlike in the past, lending to the priority sector continues to trail, posting single-digit...

-The Hindu Business Line NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Friday indicated that there has been progress in the efforts to empower States to compete and improve on the basis of governance. “If States have to derive democratic dividends, the only way is to facilitate them to compete with each on the basis of good governance. There is good news that States in the country are beginning to take NITI Aayog’s rankings...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Farmers could get annual income support of Rs 15,000 per hectare if the Niti Aayog’s proposal for an upfront subsidy through direct benefit transfer is accepted, said people with knowledge of the matter. The Aayog has suggested that all subsidies for agriculture, including fertiliser, electricity, crop insurance, irrigation and interest subvention be replaced by income transfer. Telangana and Odisha have adopted income support to help alleviate agrarian...

-The Hindu Business Line In an effort to reintroduce the bill seeking amendments in the Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, the Maharashtra government has started discussions with stakeholders, including farmers’ leaders, traders and mathadi workers (head loaders). In the first meeting recently conducted by State Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, farmers’ leaders and traders reached an agreement on scrapping cess on the produce brought and traded in Agriculture Produce Market Committee...

-Financial Express Even as loan waivers are known to help a small number of farmers, Odisha has come up with a farmer-centric scheme which assists farming on a large and secular scale. It comes at a time when a debate on validity of loan waiver is being discussed across the country. KALIA — a farmer-specific scheme launched by the state — includes payments to everyone from big farmers and landless cultivators...