-TheWire.in Researchers have found that small and marginal farmers and Dalit landless labourers are worst affected by the region's agrarian distress. Sangrur/Patiala (Punjab): In the villages of Punjab, strike a conversation on farming  expenses with anyone, and they will say, “Karja tan hai hi (Of course, we have taken loans).” It’s these loans – from both institutional and non-institutional sources – that largely help the rural economy run in the state. But...

-Newsclick.in Almost 24% of the respondents reported having earned no wages in the unlock phases and close to 50% said that their monthly wages were less than Rs 5,000. A fact sheet produced by ActionAid Association India following its surveys focussing on informal workers has exposed the inadequacies of the governments that are failing in improving workers’ lives. The extensive report, which is a part of the organisation’s longitudinal study on the impact...

-The Indian Express The Punjab government claims that if the earnings of these boards are stopped, the state will find it difficult to maintain over 31,000-km of rural link roads as well as farmers’ welfare schemes, including the debt relief scheme. Jalandhar: The implementation of Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, which removes restrictions on farmers selling agri-produce outside the notified Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) yards, has not...

-The Tribune With APMC markets heading towards a collapse, the new set of reforms is aimed at encouraging corporatisation, with big business moving into agriculture, storage and marketing. As the experience of US/Europe shows, when unregulated markets become dominant, small farmers are the first to be pushed out of agriculture. Reiterating what former US Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz (during Ronald Reagan’s rule) had declared: “Get big or get out,” Sonny Perdue, US...

-Hindustan Times Expanding better opportunities with decent wages for frontline workers could also contribute to the revival of the rural economy by putting wages into the hands of many, and take us closer to achieving our health and nutrition goals The unsung heroes of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic have most definitely been the millions of frontline women workers, especially Accredited Social Health Activists (Ashas) who have been working tirelessly at...