-The Indian Express A Basic Income Scheme for the farmer will not tax the government’s resources. But it could stem the tide of distress in the countryside. The neglect of Indian agriculture by the NDA government, despite the tall promises in the BJP election manifesto of 2014 has been the cause of untold suffering of the Indian farmer over the last four years. This has led to large-scale farmers suicides and...

-Economic and Political Weekly Small and marginal farmers are not the real beneficiaries of loan waivers. In the year following loan waivers, small farmers lose out on three counts: lower access to formal loans, falling agricultural revenue because of higher informal loan costs, and falling agricultural productivity. Instead, supply-side interventions could make a real difference in farmers’ lives as a long-term alternative to loan waivers. Please click here to access the full...

-The Telegraph Farmers' march to capital on November 29-30 to demand special session of Parliament A farmers’ organisation along with P. Sainath, the award-winning crusader for agriculturists, has been visiting college and university campuses across the country, explaining how agriculture distress affects students. The main mover behind the campus cluster meetings is the All India Kisan Sangharsh Co-ordination Committee, an umbrella organisation of 200 farmers’ outfits, which wants to sensitise students to...

-Hindustan Times This climate impact on agriculture is a cause for worry: the sector accounts for a large share in gross domestic product (16%) and employment (49%). Poor agricultural performance can lead to high inflation, rural distress, and political restiveness, as recent rural agitations and farmer suicides have shown. An annual review by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), a wing of the agriculture ministry, has said that crops, plantations...

-IndiaSpend.com Baloda Bazar, Kabirdham (Kawardha), Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund, Kanker (Chhattisgarh): “I’ll ask them to give me a job first and then think about giving my vote,” said 28-year-old Kekti Verma, holding back her tears. “I have three girls, the eldest one is 10 and youngest four. I haven’t got any help till date from the government.” Kekti is the widow of Dhal Singh Verma, a two-acre paddy farmer in Sararidih in Baloda...