The central government claims that allowing foreign direct investment into India’s retail sector will benefit small farmers, expand employment and lower food inflation. What has been the experience in India with organised retail so far and what has been the global experience with FDI? Sukhpal Singh (sukhpal@iegindia.org) is currently at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. After being under relentless attack for a week, the United Progressiv Alliance government was forced to...
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Maharashtra launches health scheme for poor by Amruta Byatnal
The Maharashtra government launched the Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayi Arogya Yojana here on Sunday, enabling families with annual income of less than Rs. 1 lakh to avail free medical facilities worth Rs. 1.5 lakh. Health Minister Suresh Shetty announced that this scheme, when fully implemented, would benefit close to 2.5 crore families. However, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, while praising the scheme, lamented the rising rate of population in the State. Mr....
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Expressing concern over the agrarian crisis leading to farmers' suicides in the country, Rajya Sabha members on Thursday sought a special seven-day session to discuss the issue in depth. Initiating a short-duration discussion on the agrarian crisis, BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu sought the special session to discuss the situation and find solutions. Mr. Naidu said that while the economy was growing at 7-8 percent, the farm growth was only around...
More »Producers' plight by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashastha & Venkitesh Ramakrishnan
In U.P., where 70 per cent of the people depend on agriculture, FDI in retail does not produce any cheer. ON a misty Monday morning in early December in Muradnagar, a small town in western Uttar Pradesh, numerous tractors and trucks, loaded with jaggery and driven by farmers themselves, lined up in front of the smallest grain mandi (market) of the region. With unusual patience, the drivers waited for their...
More »Experience so far by CP Chandrasekhar
Global experience in retail trading by MNCs does not tally with the presumptions on which the UPA government's FDI policy is based. IN the course of the debate on the need to permit foreign direct investment in retail in India, two arguments have been advanced often. The first argument is that large organised retail is good for not just consumers, who would benefit from lower prices owing to cost efficiencies...
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