-Newsclick.in Why has there been a tendency toward persistent ‘excess supply’ in the foodgrain market when growth rate of foodgrain output has barely exceeded the population growth rate? The pandemic and the lockdown are certainly causing an absolute shrinkage in the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Indian economy. But these tend to obscure something very serious that was happening even earlier, namely, a real income decline for vast numbers of working...
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Policymakers still talk of ‘food security’, it’s time to plan for ‘nutritional self-reliance’ -Ajay Vir Jakhar
-The Indian Express Farmers will need to be supported in perpetuity; they can never become atmanirbhar. The question is how best to support farmers such that India may become nutrition self-reliant Imagine, while constructing a multi-storey building the contractors discover the building foundation has begun to sink. It is scary, but wait. Now, imagine that even though the contractors know this, they simply decide to continue work rather than alter the plans....
More »Centre's 'Surplus' Rice to Ethanol Move Goes Back to a March Meeting Chaired by Modi -Kabir Agarwal
-TheWire.in The decision, which has been severely criticised as it comes in the wake of rising hunger in the country, was defended by the government as being needed to manufacture alcohol-based hand sanitisers. New Delhi: A high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 3, 2020 all but cleared the way for the government’s much-criticised decision to convert ‘surplus’ rice to ethanol, information obtained by The Wire via the Right...
More »How India Can Leverage Surplus Food Grain to Expand PDS Without Sacrificing Fiscal Prudence -Siraj Hussain and Jugal Mohapatra
-TheWire.in After Modi's decision to extend additional allocation of food grains under PMGKY until November, there are now three scenarios that can play out. On June 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the country, announced that the additional allocation of food grains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKY) will be made available till November. This means that from April to November 2020, 71.17 crore people – classified...
More »Strategy to spur the rural economy: Creating value and sustainable livelihood for migrants -GR Chintala
-Financial Express As part of the strategy to spur the rural economy, migrants should be encouraged to invest in the medium-term and long-term livelihood options. Roti, Kapda and Makan symbolise the essential requirements for a decent living with the absolute basic being food (roti). The question of lives and livelihood is inextricably linked to food. Perhaps, the most disruptive impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the forced return of migrants to...
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