-The Indian Express Will the kisan take care of interests of landless peasants as well? In the aftermath of the demonstrations by farmers in the name of agricultural prices and loan waiving, it is important to remember that village India also comprises of landless peasants who have nothing to sell on the market and have never gone to a bank. Their condition has deteriorated, too, as a result not only of the...
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Fields of ferment -Ashok Gulati
-The Indian Express Why assembly election verdicts should occasion a rethink on loan waivers, MSP raises The results of the elections to state assemblies should be a humbling experience for the BJP. Political pundits have started analysing the verdict, since the reasons for the BJP’s defeat have important implications for the parliamentary election of 2019. One factor that is being flagged by analysts is farm distress. Farmers across the country are not...
More »Quick fix for the farmer -Tirtha Chatterjee & Ashok Gulati
-The Indian Express In the absence of patience and vision, the loan waiver remains the most favoured response to farm distress Thousands of farmers from different parts of India marched to Delhi on November 29-30 to register their protest against the Narendra Modi government’s perceived apathy and neglect of farmers’ demands. They were basically demanding three things: One, debate in Parliament to discuss farm distress; two, one-time loan waiver; and three,...
More »Why much of India lacks access to safe drinking water, despite an ambitious government project -Shreehari Paliath
-India Spend/ Scroll.in In August, the CAG found that the National Rural Drinking Water Programme had failed to meet its targets. More than 163 million Indians – higher than the population of Russia – do not have access to safe drinking water, and the National Rural Drinking Water Programme, despite spending 90% of Rs 89,956 crore budget over five years to 2017, has “failed” its targets, according to an August 2018 report...
More »Why parties prefer freebies to investments in election manifestoes -Ashok Gulati
-Financial Express It is the season of promising freebies to lure voters. Congress leads in these promises. It has promised a loan waiver in Chhattisgarh within 10 days of coming to power; and the hiking of minimum support price (MSP) of paddy to Rs 2,500/quintal, up from Rs 1,750/quintal, a 43% raise over the already increased MSP of paddy. In Madhya Pradesh, it has promised a loan waiver of up to...
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