-The Financial Express Budget 2018: The government claims that this is the Budget for a “new India”.However, this vision excludes rural workers, small & marginal farmers and the unorganised sector. Many claims are being made about the farm sector. The fact is even the “optics” only partially meet these. The substance of this Budget shows how little it caters to farmers, and the economically & politically marginalised. The demand of farmers agitating...
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In MGNREGA implementation, AP slipped to 8th position from top
-Deccan Chronicle As per the CM’s dashboard, the average wage achieved across the state is 86.18 per cent, and average days achieved is 62.92 per cent Vijayawada: The state government is examining the mode of MGNREGA payments and also investigating the reasons behind the delay of payments to the workers. It is observed by the chief secretary that five districts have paid more towards material components. The state government is worried about...
More »Why farmers don't have electoral clout -Avik Saha and Yogendra Yadav
-Down to Earth Although farmers vote at least as much, if not more than industrial workers or urban middle classes, elections are not fought around farmers' issues Elections are about numbers. Democratic politics is about stitching together a majority. So, the larger a group, the bigger is its “vote bank”, and greater is its electoral clout. A social group that constitutes a majority can therefore dictate its terms in an electoral democracy....
More »Expect a Budget for angry Bharat -TV Jayan and Rutam Vora
-The Hindu Business Line Falling farm prices, drying up of industrial jobs and lesser MGNREGA work have sharpened rural discontent. The Budget cannot ignore these factors in a year of 8 State polls The year 2017 was roiled by rural discontent. After two consecutive drought years (2014-15 and 2015-16), when agriculture growth plummeted (see table), the countryside was awash with hope after a good monsoon in 2016-17. However, record foodgrain output (272 million...
More »Odisha seeks release of Rs 676.57 crore for MGNREGA wages
-IANS Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday requested the Centre to release Rs 676.57 crore to pay the wages under the MGNREGA scheme till December 2017. In a letter to Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the Chief Minister sought his intervention for the release of the funds. Patnaik said the Centre was supposed to release Rs 2,290.19 crore to the state by December-end but it had released only Rs...
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