-Down to Earth Millions of Indian households transfer poverty to the next generation, making poverty eradication nearly impossible Something that has haunted me through my 22 years of reporting the rural India is how some people in certain regions always remain poor. I have visited them multiple times for various assignments, but have always found them talking about poverty. Like me, they too always wonder: “Why do we remain poor?” I have mostly reported...

-The Indian Express There’s a need to come up with a new model of growth through focused value chains. When it comes to exports, there are several key issues that affect the various stakeholders concerned. It’s almost sardonic that when you type “agrarian” in Google, it invariably suggests “crisis” as the following word. In 2019, the Indian farm sector grew minus 0.1% year-on-year in January-March and 2% and 2.1% in the next...

-The Hindu Business Line The PM-Kisan as a tool to prop up sagging rural demand, recording of tenancy to help the real cultivators and streamlining of agricultural subsidies could be three important themes for Indian agriculture in 2020. With the defeat in the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in December 2018, the Government realised that to win rural votes in the General Elections in May 2019, it needed to...

-Newsclick.in The Centre had promised to release funds in a week’s time about two weeks back. At a time when the crisis-ridden economy has pushed millions against the wall, with many not being able to make ends meet, the employment guarantee scheme (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005) is adding to the distress of the poor—instead mitigating it. In Rajasthan, funds that are yet to be released for the payment of...

-Moneycontrol.com With priorities of the government changing, the agriculture sector is unlikely to see any major initiatives and reforms Inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November is further proof that agriculture produces only marginal surpluses. Only last year, observers were worried that the planners were not engaged enough to see that India is now surplus with most agricultural commodities. Please click here to read more. ...