-The Indian Express There is an emerging consensus among FMCG majors that, like their automobile counterparts, the impact of the slump is more evident in rural India and that, in geographical terms, the north is the worst hit. New Delhi: The impact of the deepening consumption slowdown is being felt beyond discretionary purchases such as vehicles and durables with fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies manufacturing small-ticket items such as soaps, biscuits...

In the financial year 2017-18 when tractor sales touched new heights, it was said by many of the NDA (viz. National Democratic Alliance) government supporters that rural demand has revived on account of adequate monsoon rainfall and higher minimum support prices for crops. Many economists and newspaper columnists also denied the existence of any rural distress. An alternative perspective, however, was also presented by rural economists like Dr. Himanshu who teaches...

-Scroll.in/ qz.com While the government was busy celebrating cosmetic measures like ‘ease of doing business’ ranking, the real economy tanked. Suddenly, it seems like everything is shrinking in India: our capacity for tolerance and diversity, the space for democratic expression and dissent – and now, economic growth. The warning signs have reached a point where they cannot be ignored any longer and more people, including prominent business leaders, are speaking out. Yet, at...

-The Pioneer In the absence of any sunset clause or distinct feature to identify the beneficiaries who succeed in climbing themselves out of poverty, the scheme of direct cash transfer as an income support welfare measure and as a potent tool of empowerment does not sound convincing even on paper Thanks to the proposal for the universal basic income, it has become a topic for discussion as one-fifth population of this country...

-Hindustan Times In the discourse on agriculture, for instance, farmer suicides are cited as the biggest proof of the agrarian crisis in the country by a large section. India’s political economy discourse is often a prisoner of the dictum that when there is no theory, there is a conspiracy theory. Corruption, rather than an accentuated cyclical shock after the global financial crisis, combined with the poor governance structures in Indian...