Having had to face a series of farmers' protest and flak from Opposition parties over the acquisition of land for development and expressway projects in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati has announced that all future land transactions will be clinched directly between the farmers and the private developers by adopting a “consensual approach.” “The role of the government now would be that of a facilitator only, limited to issuing a notification...

The World Bank has cleared a $975-million (Rs 4,387 crore) loan for a pet rail project of Mamata Banerjee, the funds signal flashing at a time Bengal is on the lookout for affordable funds. The loan is meant for the first phase (Ludhiana-Mughal Sarai) of a dedicated high-speed freight corridor that will eventually link Calcutta and Delhi. But those familiar with the World Bank’s operations suggested that the approval could be more...

The rural development ministry has proposed that farmers should get 80% of the profits from resale of land bought from them for development, much higher than that suggested by a Sonia Gandhi-led panel. The National Advisory Council had pegged the compensation after resale at 25% of the profits made by private developers. The proposal, aimed at giving farmland owners a better deal, follows protests in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida last month over...

Concerned over the high maternal and infant mortality rate in the country, the Centre on Wednesday launched an ambitious programme to provide free services to pregnant women for deliveries and neo-natal care, if needed, up to a month after birth. The facility will be available to all women in government health institutions in both rural and urban settings, and is expected to benefit over one crore women annually. Launching the Janani-Shishu Suraksha...

The Mamata Banerjee government is likely to request the Centre to amend a legislation to make contract farming “optional”, an approach that leaves some room for manoeuvre and mirrors the concerns expressed by sections of the Left on agro-marketing reforms. Arup Ray, the new minister for agricultural marketing in Bengal, today told The Telegraph that the Trinamul-led government would neither promote contract farming nor allow big players to control the agro-marketing...