Even as recent media reports caution that most fruits and vegetables are largely unfit for human consumption due to their high chemical content, pesticides continue to be used recklessly in the fields of Punjab. The ‘Granary of India’ constitutes 2.5 per cent of the total agricultural land in India, but consumes more than 18 per cent of the total pesticides used in India. Within the state the worst affected is the southwestern...

Acting with determination and firm action, it should be possible for India to step up its agricultural growth rate to 10 per cent. The 11th Five Year Plan seeks to achieve 4 per cent growth rate in agriculture by the end of the Plan period. The Planning Commission is working towards an overall 9 per cent to 10 per cent growth rate. But the target of 4 per cent growth rate is...

A day after initiating land acquisition process for Posco-India’s mega steel plant project near Paradip, the Orissa government on Wednesday said 470 families could face displacement due to the mega plant. “The Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) had already finalised a compensation package for the affected families,” Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suryanarayan Patra informed the State Assembly. The steel major required 4,004 acres for the Rs. 51,000 crore project...

The Supreme Court's observation that the above the poverty line (APL) population should be kept out of the purview of the Public Distribution System (PDS) is in direct conflict with the National Advisory Council's (NAC) recent decision for universalisation of the system beginning with 150 yet-to-be-identified districts. At present APL beneficiaries are getting up to 12 kg of foodgrains per family. The quantum was revised to 15 kg just this...

The UPA flagship MGNREGA will now be used to address Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s concerns over lack of development in the tribal areas. Taking note of the lack of coordination between various implementing agencies involved in tribal welfare, the rural development ministry wants the various schemes under the ministry of tribal affairs to be converged with MGNREGA. To explore this model, the rural development ministry has set up a working group to...