-DNA Muzaffarpur (Bihar): Some 30 kms away from Bihar's Muzaffarpur, in Moshari block, peasants sit around a common hookah at a village chaupal after an exhausting day. They sign Maithili folk songs and relating stories of Raj Kishore and Tasleemudin, legendary Naxalite leaders who took on local landlords in the 1960s. This region, along with Naxalbari in neighbouring West Bengal, was the centre of bloody clashes, forcing socialist leader Jai Prakash Narayan...
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Why blame the farmer for price rise? -Shanu Athiparambath
-DNA Farming is considered a patriotic enterprise, and nearly half of India's Labour force is engaged in agriculture and allied activities. Almost everyone believes that in the election season, political parties should pledge to aid this patriotic endeavor to feed the nation. But, farming is a risky profession, and agricultural products form only 14% of India's total produce. After the economic reforms, the growth in agricultural GDP has averaged only 3.4%. Even...
More »For shifting from paddy to cotton, 4,000/acre subsidy -Gurpreet Singh Nibber
-The Hindustan Times Chandigarh: The government of Punjab has decided to offer a subsidy of 4,000 per acre to motivate farmers to shift from the water-guzzling coarse rice variety (paddy) to the traditional cash crop cotton. In the crop diversification plan, the government has decided to initially support 1,500 acres in Abohar, Fazilka, Malout, Maur and Muktsar. CM Parkash Singh Badal cleared the plan on Monday. The subsidy is for purchasing hybrid...
More »Rampant clay mining destroys paddy fields
-The Hindu Miners violate rules; panchayat witnesses 24-hour mining Thrissur (Kerala): Rampant clay mining has led to the destruction of paddy fields and acute shortage of water at Nenmanikkara panchayat, near here. The local farmers point out that the panchayat used to have more than 600 hectares of paddy field. According to the development report of the panchayat, 97.6 per cent of paddy fields have been destroyed. The clay mining has turned...
More »Survey bares tea garden ill health
-The Telegraph A survey by the state Labour department has shown that of 273 tea estates in north Bengal, 107 don't have hospitals. Of the hospitals in the 166 tea gardens, there is no nurse in 116 hospitals, and there are MBBS doctors only in 74. The state of health care in tea gardens has been highlighted in a report prepared by the joint Labour commissioner's office in Siliguri. The survey was taken...
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