-The Hindu Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh: In February, Ram Aathray, a 37-year-old farmer from Mahoba, lost most of his crop to a hailstorm. His four acres of land produced a mere two quintals of wheat. “It’ll only last for four months,” he fears. He could take a mortgage loan but he’s saving that for his daughter’s wedding. The only option would be to migrate to Delhi and work on a construction site....
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Mr. Modi’s war on welfare -G Sampath
-The Hindu The Modi government is determined to dismantle the two-pronged welfare paradigm. It is now an established fact that one area where the Narendra Modi administration has acted with a sense of purpose, urgency and resolve is in slashing social expenditure. Be it education, health, agriculture, livelihood security, food security, panchayati raj institutions, drinking water or the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes sub-plan, central government funds earmarked for social protection have been cut. The...
More »300 farmer suicides in Marathwada since January -Mohammed Akhef & Prasad Joshi
-The Times of India AURANGABAD: With the worsening drought situation in the region, farmer suicides continue unabated this year. About 300 farmers have taken their lives since January this year. The highest number (83) of farmer suicides has been reported from Beed district, followed by Nanded with 55 deaths and Osmanabad with 50 cases. Last year, a total of 569 farmers in the region had taken their lives. Osmanabad is one of the...
More »40% of India still banks on monsoon for agriculture -Subodh Varma
-The Times of India In the 21st century, why does the forecast of a deficient monsoon send the same ripple of fear through India as it would 5,000 years ago? The short answer is that for almost 40% of the population, agriculture has not changed — it is still dependent on the "rain god", or the South-West monsoon as it is known today. Here are the facts: about 46% of India's net...
More »Why RBI had to protect small farmers -Ravi Krishnan
-Livemint.com The RBI norms towards targeted marginal lending for the small farmer is a structural solution to aid them—unlike bailout packages, which provide only short-term relief In its latest overhaul of priority sector lending rules, the central bank has stipulated that lenders should funnel at least 8% of their credit to small and marginal farmers. While the overall agriculture loan growth has galloped over the past decade, the chart shows why...
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