-The Financial Express It is expected that the measures announced in the Budget will boost agricultural output and rural incomes It appears that Budget FY17 has not generated enough excitement in media, academics and the masses, including farmers. Currently, farm distress is a serious concern in the country. The livelihood security of the rural population is in peril. Farmers are in dire need of substantial help to come out of the crisis-like...

-TheHansIndia.com Anantapur: The Telugu Desam government’s pet subsidised rice scheme conceived by the party’s founder N T Rama Rao has helped the party ride to power several times in the past. But the same scheme is now being watered down by the beneficiaries themselves, both eligible and ineligible, apart from the deep nexus between the dealers and black marketeers. About 40 percent of both eligible and ineligible ration cardholders are actually defeating...

-The Economic Times Blog The massive increase in expenditure on irrigation in this year’s Budget has raised hopes that more water will flow into fields. This can drought-proof the farmer, increase crop output and lead to greater rural prosperity, which, in turn, will generate demand for all kinds of goods and services. So, everybody will live happily ever after. Not so simple. While higher spending on irrigation is a good beginning, a lot...

-CaravanMagazine.in Political realities blunt Narendra Modi’s attack on the NREGA At the end of December 2015, the central rural development ministry was in a state of panic. Nine of India’s largest states had declared drought in several districts. The scant kharif harvest meant many farm labourers, who might have been employed on fields, went without work. Water was so scarce that many farms weren’t sowing a winter crop, further diminishing employment...

-Report by Delhi Solidarity Group The Government of India presented its annual budget with much fanfare, claiming it to be propoor and pro-rural, but the question looms whether it will really change the lives of the marginalized sections of the society. For a country like India that claims to be ‘democratic, socialist, sovereign, republic’ working towards the ‘welfare’ of its citizens it might be assumed that the key areas on priority...