-PTI MUMBAI: The cost of production of paddy in Andhra Pradesh was higher than the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 1,080 per quintal in the last year mainly because of higher expenditure on wages, says the latest study undertaken by the RBI's research wing. Andhra Pradesh is one of the leading producing states in the country. The study, conducted by the Development Research Group (DRG) of RBI, also said the Commission for...

-Economic and Political Weekly  The Government of India is considering a proposal to notify farming as an essential service. This is ostensibly to bring drought relief to farmers suffering from a weak monsoon - a laudable goal indeed. However, if farming is deemed an "essential service", farmers and farm workers could lose many of their political and civic rights because the government can then invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act to...

Direct cash transfers or food coupons should be used by the government to provide services to the poor, says Farzana Afridi, Assistant Professor, Economics and Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. Afridi, who obtained her PhD in economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an MA in economics from the Delhi School of Economics, says that although the Mid Day Meal Programme is having a substantial effect, the...

-The Indian Express wage growth in agriculture outpacing that in industry is a bad sign for the economy Against a 63 per cent rise in industrial wages in a 10-year period, agricultural wages in the harvesting season have risen by 117 per cent, according to data released by the agriculture ministry this week. The difference in the rise in wages in the two sectors, from comparable bases, is not a statistical artefact....

-The United Nations A new United Nations report advocates that governments use fiscal and labour market policies to reduce income inequality, maintaining that this not only leads to social benefits but will spur economic growth and development. Produced by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the Trade and Development Report 2012 says that recent experience, especially in Latin America and other developing countries, suggests that progressive taxation and rising public...