-Centre for Science and Environment India has one of the highest arable land areas in the world1 with a net sown area of 140.1 million hectares (ha).2 Agriculture and allied sectors employ 54.6 per cent of the total workforce in India (2019–20).3 The country successfully adopted the Green Revolution in the 1960s—an input and chemical-intensive agriculture model—to overcome food scarcity by use of high yield varieties, pesticides, fertilizers, and agriculture machinery...

-Press release by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha dated 2 February, 2022 Notwithstanding the rural distress, implementing NREGA is a legal obligation of the Central government. However, the demand-driven nature of the Act has been repeatedly stifled in letter and spirit. By severe rationing of funds, it has been made a supply driven programme. Today is NREGA diwas and while we are supposed to be celebrating the idea of rural employment guarantee, we...

-Centre for Science and Environment * Releases new report that presents irrefutable evidence of the benefits of non-chemical agriculture * Yesterday’s Budget promises to promote chemical-free natural farming, but it is a half-hearted promise at best, as no separate allocation has been made in it, says CSE * CSE’s asks: Invest in organic and natural farming. Make it a mass movement New Delhi, February 2, 2022: “Despite the push given to it through periodic...

-TheWire.in Presenting a budget, especially in the midst of an economic crisis, is an opportunity to communicate a government's vision for the country. This budget fails to do that and seems to be completely disconnected from ground realities. It seems as if the Union finance minister, this year, took the idea of a paperless budget so literally that she has attempted to find digital solutions to most of the country’s problems. The ‘Amrit...

-Livemint.com Rural economy has to deal with declining incomes and rising cost of essentials The general consensus on the state of the Indian economy can be summarized as follows: The economy has been in a deep crisis even before the pandemic-led disruptions. Second, the crisis is not a result of supply constraints but is a result of demand deficiency, particularly in the rural economy. Recent evidence suggests that the impact of the slowdown...