-The New Indian Express The financial distress in the rural sector, especially borne by the farmers and reflected in farmer suicides, is a matter of concern for the nation. The rural economy housing nearly two-thirds of the population is vital for the development of the nation as it not only supplies food for consumption but also provides a market for industrial output. The rural people, due to lack of awareness of...

-The Indian Express Niggling procedural hassles stymie efforts to modernise antiquated labour regulations.   As it completes one year in office, the NDA government seems to have finally bit the bullet and taken up the controversial Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, for amendments that would allow easier retrenchment and closure norms for firms with up to 300 workers though ensuring that the employees get higher compensation in return. The draft code on industrial relations has...

-ForeignPolicy.com Roughly 600 million Indians are farmers -- the majority of whom would happily give it up for another job. So why is the Congress party so determined to keep them as peasants? In 1991, the Congress-led government of Indian Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao passed a series of groundbreaking reforms that unshackled the economy from its tight state controls, transforming it into a market-oriented, globalized giant. Those reforms unleashed India’s...

-The Hindu Given the high investment and negative incentives such as input subsidies, small farmers have not benefited from government schemes. Everything about the suicide of the farmer from Dausa, Gajendra Singh, save the tragedy for his family, has been theatre — the very public venue, the occasion of a political rally, the politicians happily playing their populist cards, and the media’s focus on trivialities. The tragedy is being skilfully milked for...

-The Hans India The three-day camp sitting will look into a slew of complaints During its three-day camp sitting, the commission will also hold an ‘open hearing’ on April 22 on the problems and grievances of Scheduled Castes who have complaints of atrocities committed by public servants Hyderabad: The National Human Rights Commission will be holding its three-day camp at Hyderabad for the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana from April 22 to...