Even though the West Bengal government is yet to confirm that suicides by farmers in the Ausgram block of Bardhaman district are drought-related, following the third incident on Wednesday, district authorities admitted on Thursday that the farmers were “under a stress of Debt Burden.” “It is not possible to be sure whether the suicides are drought-related or not, but it is clear that the economic condition of the farmers was not...

The NREGS is restricted. The PDS is targeted. Only exploitation is universal. The rotting of lakhs of tonnes of foodgrain in open yards, while shocking, is hardly new or surprising. Remember the rural poor marching on godowns in Andhra Pradesh in 2001 in similar circumstances? The Supreme Court was quite right in jolting the Union government. “In a country where admittedly people are starving, it is a crime to waste even...

The Supreme Court on May 7 ruled that natural resources were national assets that belonged to the people and were ideally exploited by public sector undertakings. This obviously implies that local communities, including tribals, living on mineralised land, enjoy entitlements but not prescriptive ownership rights to such national assets. This is an important reiterative clarification defining mineral rights in Fifth Schedule areas that are currently in contention. Whether PSUs should...

Ralegan Siddhi (Maharashtra): Social activist Anna Hazare, who began an indefinite hunger strike on Tuesday, has alleged that the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government in Maharashtra is wasting public money by allowing Ministers to spruce up their already well-furnished cabins. “The State is reeling under a Debt Burden and Ministers are busy spending lakhs on renovating their cabins.” Mr. Hazare began his fast here on the occasion of Gudi Padwa, the Marathi...

Failure of kharif crop and mounting debts stated to be reasons  The interest rate on private loans ranges between 24 and 36 per cent The district witnessed 15 deaths in 3 days during November Sixty-nine farmers from Adilabad district committed suicide during the kharif season that lasted from August to November 2009 and the number grew to 93 by December 15, if reports from the non-governmental organisations and farmers’ associations in Andhra...