IN GREEN-LIGHTING the new “nutrient- based” fertiliser policy, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee pulled off a political coup, overriding the objections of the once-powerful UPA allies, DMK and NCP. What’s more, it is those very critics who will be responsible for the actual delivery of benefits to farmers under the new scheme — which is a tall order. With Mamata Banerjee’s TMC putting in only a token caveat, the reservations of Union...

One looks forward to the Finance Minister's budget speech with a hope that it spells some new major initiatives and schemes for development, and that it might promise any major allocation of resources to any sector, besides fresh tax proposals. In the case of education sector, one might feel disappointed at the proposals made in the Union budget for 2010-11 on both counts. No new initiatives are proposed; no major...

The bane of farmers’ suicides has taken Orissa in its vice-like grip with five ending their lives in every seven days. The trend has grown by over six per cent in 2008 as the State has climbed the ladder at a notoriously fast pace to rank 12th of the 28 states with most farmer deaths, the statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau has revealed. The growth is over 40...

This is a budget crafted for, and perhaps by, the corporate farmer and agribusiness. The real heroes of India's success story were our farmers. Through their hard work, they ensured “food security” for the country.— Pranab Mukherjee, interim budget speech Feb. 16, 2009 This Budget belongs to 'Aam Aadmi'. It belongs to the farmer, the agriculturist, the entrepreneur and the investor. — Pranab Mukherjee, budget speech, Feb. 26, 2010 Gee! Another pro-farmer budget....

With the government successfully managing to partially lighten its burden by switching over to a nutrient-based subsidy scheme for fertilizers, the Economic Survey has now raised questions on the impact that food, fertilizer, kerosene and diesel subsidies have on poverty eradication. Instead, it has pitched for direct subsidy to the poor instead of price control, ostensibly to reduce diversion to the open market, leakage and adulteration. “The impact of these [food, fertilizer,...