Among the several resolutions passed on Thursday by the 9th conference of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) in Kanpur, one of the most important ones was on the need to regulate microfinance institutions (MFIs), which are exercising an iron grip on poor women debtors in several States of the country. The resolution drew attention to the “spate of suicides as a result of the harassment and strong-arm tactics employed...

Few will take very seriously the undertaking given by the government in the Supreme Court that River Ganga will be pure and free of pollution by 2020. Similar commitments were made to the public 25 years ago when, in 1985, the Ganga Action Plan (GAP) to clean this most treasured of the sub-continent’s rivers was launched. Even after spending several thousand crores of rupees on the project, the Ganga is...

Banks have disbursed nearly Rs 90,000 crore credit to farmers in the April-June quarter of this fiscal, the government said on Monday. The government has fixed the credit flow target during 2010-11 fiscal at Rs 3,75,000 crore. "Agriculture credit of Rs 89,687 crore has been disbursed to farmers across the country till June 2010 in the financial year 2010-11," an official statement said. The credit disbursement in 2009-10 was Rs 3,66,919 crore against...

In 25 years, the Narmada Bachao Andolan has introduced an alternative development discourse in India. ON the full moon night in October, hundreds of people from all over India gathered at Bhilgaon, one of the many tribal villages in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, in the foothills of the Satpura mountain range and on the Banks of the river Narmada. The place resounded with jingles, revolutionary folk songs and strains of...

There has been a significant pick up in credit flow to industry, services and personal loan segments during the current financial year. However, credit flow to agriculture has declined further, data released by the Reserve Bank of India as part of Macroeconomic and Monetary Developments Second Quarter Review 2010-11 shows. While credit flow to industry was highest at Rs 1,07,386 crore, credit flow to agriculture contracted by Rs 13,481 crore during...