What do three members of the National Advisory Council, two members of the Planning Commission, Editors (including the editor and executive editor of this magazine), MPs from across the political spectrum, CII members and the NCPCR have in common? One single demand: no child under 14 should be engaged in child labour. Forty-five eminent members of society from very diverse backgrounds have thrown their considerable weight behind an ongoing campaign...
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Rs 60,000 crore is the cost of rotting food grain every year. Yet, millions go hungry by Suman Sahai
EVERY OTHER day there is either a newspaper report or an editorial comment lamenting the loss of food grain stored in buffer stocks. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, while prophesying a bumper kharif crop, admits he is worried about not having adequate storage for the produce. At a national conference in 2003, the Central Warehousing Corporation said it had covered storage capacity for 48 million tonnes of food grain. In 2002,...
More »Waiting for second revolution
After failing to come anywhere near the 10th Five Year Plan (2002-07) target of 4 per cent per annum rate of growth of agricultural output, the Planning Commission has projected a lower target growth rate of 3 to 3.5 per cent per annum for the 11th Plan period. While some may view this as a more modest target, others may consider it as still far too ambitious, given the track...
More »Blueprint for farm growth by Mohan Dharia
Acting with determination and firm action, it should be possible for India to step up its agricultural growth rate to 10 per cent. The 11th Five Year Plan seeks to achieve 4 per cent growth rate in agriculture by the end of the Plan period. The Planning Commission is working towards an overall 9 per cent to 10 per cent growth rate. But the target of 4 per cent growth rate is...
More »After waiver, loans at 5% for farmers next on agenda by Mahendra Kumar Singh
At a time when agriculture production has become key to economic expansion, the Union Cabinet on Friday will consider a proposal to fulfill its promise of crop loans at a cheaper rate of 5% to farmers who make timely repayment. In the current year's budget, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had proposed to give up to 2% interest rate subvention to farmers who do not default on their repayments, making the...
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