-TheWire.in The insurance coverage in 2015 was 22.3%, with a government expenditure of Rs 2,955 crore. But by spending 4.5x since, how does the government admit to a coverage of only 23%? Farmer suicides and agrarian distress have likely never been among the national public debates as they are right now. A group of Tamil Nadu farmers, whose protests in New Delhi were dubbed ‘bizarre’ but who were actually desperate for debate and...

-The Hindu The State, in an affidavit perused by Supreme Court on Friday, said it received information about the causes of farmers' deaths through reports collected from Collectors. The Tamil Nadu government on Friday blamed heart attacks, illness, and “in certain cases”, suicides for deaths of its farmers reeling under severe drought. The State, in an affidavit perused by the Supreme Court on Friday, said it had received information about the causes of...

-Livemint.com Farmers are already refusing to repay loans in Maharashtra, expecting a waiver in the works on the lines of that in Uttar Pradesh Mumbai: Would you bother to repay a loan if it was going to be written off anyway? Probably not. There’s no farm loan waiver in Maharashtra yet, but farmers are already refusing to repay loans as they expect a waiver in the works, officials in the state’s co-operative banking...

-Scroll.in While officials say waivers could jeopardise allocation for other key sectors, farmer unions and economists feel it is a necessity given the farming crisis. Developments in three states over the past week have brought the debate on the waiver of farm loans back under the political spotlight. In Uttar Pradesh, the newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party government under Chief Minister Adityanath announced on Wednesday that it would write-off Crop Loans of up...

-Livemint.com Narendra Modi’s election promise in Uttar Pradesh comes back to haunt as other states demand the Union govt offer an agriculture bailout package across the country New Delhi: An election promise to farmers in the politically sensitive state of Uttar Pradesh is coming back to haunt Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as other states demand the Union government offer an agriculture bailout package across the country. During the hard-fought election campaign, Modi pledged...