Farmers and affected people from 8 districts present their cases before an eminent panel; public audits will take place in seven other States also DIV VILLAGE (RAIGAD DISTRICT): Speakers at the first public audit of special economic zones (SEZs) in Maharashtra raised trenchant questions on the constitutional validity of the law permitting these zones, and called for dislodging the government that was promoting such illegalities. Farmers and affected people...
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After protests, Govt changes norms: Dalit land first choice for NREG work, small farmers next
New Delhi : Land belonging to Scheduled Castes and/or Scheduled Tribes will be the first to be earmarked for works under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and once this is saturated, only then land belonging to small and marginal farmers will be taken up. These are the amended guidelines issued by the Rural Development Ministry after protests that expansion of works under NREGA would undermine its benefits to Dalits....
More »Father of green revolution no more with us
World leaders have mourned the sudden demise of Norman E Borlaug on 12 September, 2009 in Texas, United States. He was 95. He is remembered for his role in bringing green revolution technology that increased food production in ‘hunger’ belts of the world during the 1960s and 1970s. His contribution to India’s self-sufficiency in foodgrain production is well-known. It is his work that earned him the popular title of the...
More »Needed policies, not just promises
The Prime Minister’s Independence Day address to the nation was particularly disappointing this year. The Prime Minister has said, yet again, that "the country needs another Green Revolution". But what’s distressing is that his government has not even formulated a draft strategy for such a revolution in the last five years, let alone launch it. Why? Largely because the agriculture minister has not shown the slightest interest in a "Second...
More »A home-grown drought
Monsoon this year has failed most of India, causing drought in even well-irrigated and rainfed areas. Ravleen Kaur reports how our food preferences are making us vulnerable to drought Hari Achal Singh has been a farmer for as long as he can remember. And that’s as long as India has been independent. He recalls his childhood when his family depended on rain for irrigation. “We grew arhar (red gram), bajra...
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