-The Indian Express Activists said that this goes against the spirit of the demand-driven scheme, which has seen a spurt in demand due to rural distress triggered by droughts, floods, and post-demonetisation reverse migration. New Delhi: CONSTANT under-funding of MGNREGA, the rural employment guarantee scheme, is leading to low employment generation on the ground, with only 46 days of work being provided per employed household on an average over the last five...

-Livemint.com 3.9 million of these 4.5 million Maharashtra farmers applied for farm loan waivers online Mumbai: Even as opposition parties in Maharashtra continue to criticize the online procedure to identify the beneficiaries of farm loan waiver, farmers themselves have responded in large numbers to the initiative. By 30 August, more than 4.5 million farmers in the state had enrolled for the scheme and nearly 3.9 million of them had submitted their online...

-Down to Earth The farmers have to make an investment of Rs 463 billion in the next five years A “New India” is the latest national agenda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his fourth Independence Day speech, made an appeal with his trademark gesture of both hands pointing towards the gathering: “A new India that would fulfil the dreams of the young and women, and see the income of farmers double.” Doubling...

-Livemint.com Arvind Subramanian says coal will remain the primary source of energy for India in the short to medium term as it remains the cheapest energy source for development needs New Delhi: Coal will and should remain the primary source of energy for India in the short to medium term as the fossil fuel remains the cheapest source of energy for India’s development needs, chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian said on Thursday. Renewable...

-The Hindu Fifty years since the Green Revolution, the architect of the reform highlights the crisis facing Indian agriculture today It is 11 years since agronomist M.S. Swaminathan handed over his recommendations for improving the state of agriculture in India to the former United Progressive Alliance government, at the height of the Vidarbha farmer suicides crisis, but they are still to be implemented. To address the agrarian crisis and farmers’ unrest across...