A State-level agricultural services extension campaign was launched at tribal-dominated Asawata village in Pratapgarh district of Rajasthan on Saturday with a call made to the farmers to get the benefit of seed and fertiliser supply as well as the soil tests. State Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Harjiram Burdak, inaugurating the campaign at the Government Secondary School in the village, said 4,800 quintals of seeds would be distributed free of cost...

The glitter of growth has added little sparkle to the lives of many peasants and rural workers. Deprivation, discrimination, and disadvantage dominate the everyday lives of large sections in rural Andhra Pradesh, an important new study*finds.  Village studies highlight features of society that are often overlooked and overshadowed by macro-studies of the economy. A recent study presents extraordinarily rich, unusually detailed and intensely disturbing data on agrarian relations, livelihoods, economic...

With expectations of a record wheat production this year (2009-10), the Union government is upbeat about providing food grains to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families on a sustained basis under the proposed National Food Security Bill. “Despite the drought caused by (-) 23 per cent rainfall during the kharif season this year, farmers have maintained a production of 170.29 million tonnes of rice and wheat… which calls for satisfaction. With...

In India peasantry is under assault. There is a five-pronged attack on this class and the mighty Indian state is sometimes an active and sometimes a passive abettor. The first point of attack is from the corporate sector. The corporate sector is in a land grab mode. Though not justified, one could understand their urge to get land for industry and real estate purposes. Not that they are causing aggressive...

More thought needs to be given to the kind of data generated and its practical implications.  Yesterday when the census enumerator visited, I asked him how he felt about the current debate on counting caste in the census: “Not comfortable at all”, he said, “I don't even like asking whether someone is SC/ST or Other, leave alone what their caste is.” But, he added, “caste is an inescapable reality of...