-Scroll.in Buyers are cutting back on consumption, traders are losing margins, and farmers are paying their workers in kind. At first glance, it looks like any other day at the mandi in Bettiah. Trucks stand next to the concrete arch that leads into the fruit and vegetable market in this small town in northern Bihar. Inside the mandi SAMiti, as the precinct is called, hawkers sit with baskets bursting with vegetables. The shops...

-The Hindu Delay in monsoon has compounded the problems of farm labourers from Bahour commune Puducherry: The double whammy of demonetisation and delay in monsoon has crippled the rural population of Puducherry as they struggle to make their ends meet. The demonetisation move has brought the construction activity across the rural areas to a standstill, throwing thousands out of jobs and without money. The construction sites in rural areas of Bahour, Villianur, Mannadipet...

-Deccan Herald System overhaul: Transparency measures with strong accountability mechanisms can usher in change The National Food Security Act (NFSA) passed in 2013 gives statutory backing to the Public Distribution System (PDS). Up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population is entitled to receive food grain under the Act. Beneficiaries are categorised into priority households, entitled to 5 kg of subsidised grains per person per month, and Antyodaya...

-The Times of India BHUBANESWAR: The state government has decided to help farmers to take up construction of pigsty under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). A farmer can construct piggery shelter of 21 square metre at a cost of Rs 50,000 for four pigs under the scheme to be executed by the panchayat SAMiti. This decision was taken in view of the breakout of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in Malkangiri...

-Scroll.in Health activists say the government is using the report to divert attention from its failures. Ninety seven children have died in the district hospital of Malkangiri in southern Odisha since September. Based on the clinical symptoms of high fever and seizures, doctors suspected the children had died of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome, or brain inflammation, caused by the Japanese Encephalitis virus. Acute Encephalitis Syndrome is a group of conditions that affect the brain...