-The Hindu A systematic attempt is being made in several West Bengal districts to evict sharecroppers from land, despite the legal protection West Medinipur: At Jamirarah village, Srikanta Hansda points to two double-storey houses in the shadow of which his home — a rough mud dwelling with an asbestos clerestory roof — squats: “Those are the homes of the Ghosh family. They own Annapurna Bhandar, a well-known grocery store in Medinipur city...

-The Indian Express Substantial number of interest subvention scheme loans are diverted to non-agricultural uses. Government must switch to an income-support subsidy regime The Union budget for 2016-17 has provisioned Rs 15,000 crore on account of interest subvention for short-term agricultural credit, up by Rs 2,000 crore over the revised estimate for FY16. The mere shifting of this line item from the department of financial services to the department of agriculture...

-The Hindu Proponents of poll reforms see it as a ray of hope,others feel votes could be better used The 2013 Assembly Elections in five states saw the debut of the NOTA (short for the None of the Above) option that enables voters to reject all the candidates in the fray in a particular constituency. While the Supreme Court itself primarily focused on secrecy (which the earlier 49-O process compromised on as it...

-The Indian Express The reasons for TMC's confidence that their 'rice politics' in the state will surmount all other criticism are rooted firmly in history. It is hunger that dominates discussions about elections in West Bengal. Starvation doesn’t need to be imagined in Bengal, it’s not a distant memory — the word still conjures up images of gaunt ribs, filthy rags and lethargic limbs with unnerving clarity. The reasons for TMC’s confidence...

-The Indian Express The picture is completed by the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (crop insurance) and e-market platform that he is going to launch on April 14. For the last two months, the Narendra Modi government seems to have gone into an overdrive to appease farmers. Several farmer rallies have been organised and the common theme has been the PM’s “dream” to double the incomes of farmers by 2022. According to...