-Livemint.com The most glaring implication of the proposed deficiency payments is that it makes the state give up its responsibility of intervening in markets During the past few months, there has been a highly contested debate on the merits, viability and feasibility of crop insurance in India given the large number of small farmers and the large amount of subsidy involved that is not being effectively used as the coverage of...

-The Economic Times LUCKNOW: The latest edition of the United Nations Development Programme report on Human Development Index released on Monday has referred to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) as among the best known employment guarantee schemes providing direct jobs to the rural poor. Interestingly, in February this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had referred to the scheme as a "living monument" of Congress-led UPA government's failures. MGNREGS, which...

-Economic and Political Weekly Why has pulse production stagnated despite measures to boost production being well known? This season, the prices of pulses (dals) have been on fire. According to the Price Monitoring Cell of the Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, the average retail price of red gram (tuar) doubled from around Rs 80 a kg in March 2015 to Rs 150–Rs 160 a kg in November 2015. What could...

-PTI NEW DELHI: To prevent leakages in the MGNREGA programme, the government will introduce the system for electronic transfer of wages to the beneficiaries from January 1 next year in Kerala, Lok Sabha was informed today. An additional Rs 2,000 crore would be sought from the Finance Ministry towards ensuring that MNREGA wages are at par with the agriculture wages fixed by some states, Rural Development Minister Birender Singh said. Mahatma Gandhi National...

-The Asian Age The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act wages is set to go up, with the government on Thursday stating that it would bring parity with the agricultural minimum wages in states. The ministry of rural development would soon ask the finance ministry for an additional allocation of `2,000 crore to roll out the wage hike. Union minister for rural development Chaudhary Birendra Singh on Thursday informed the Lok...