-Business Standard Modi's flagship programme faces an uphill task of total irrigation One of the major pre-poll promises of the Narendra Modi government has been his idea of 'per drop more crop', which, in other words, means an extensive network of canals and irrigation facilities for farming. Pradhan Mantri Sinchaee Yojana, initially under the ministry of water resources, got transferred to the department of agriculture and its nomenclature was changed to the Pradhan...

-Hindustan Times A dominant feature of the first year of Narendra Modi's leadership is the quiet dismantling of India's imperfectly realised framework of welfare and rights, covertly, by stealth.   A declared pro-corporate agenda, such as the land acquisition ordinance, proved politically messy and costly. Therefore, the government resorted instead for an enfeebling of the welfare architecture of the country through a combination of fiscal withdrawals, ignoring even legally mandated obligations.   But this attracted...

-The Hindu Business Line Cut in funds is a major setback: civil society activists New Delhi: Economist Prabhat Patnaik and civil society activist Aruna Roy criticised the Narendra Modi government over various issues on Wednesday. Releasing a report card on the first year of NDA rule, they said the government is not displaying transparency and accountability to the people. Patnaik said all the explanation that the Centre is giving about the increase in...

-The Financial Express At today’s prices, imports cost less than Indian grain Imagine the irony. India has 34 million tonnes of wheat stocks with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) already and another 3-4 million will get added to this by July 1, but the country is still importing wheat, albeit in very small quantities. By July 1, FCI’s wheat and rice stocks will cross 60 million tonnes as compared to the...

-The New Indian Express The financial distress in the rural sector, especially borne by the farmers and reflected in farmer suicides, is a matter of concern for the nation. The rural economy housing nearly two-thirds of the population is vital for the development of the nation as it not only supplies food for consumption but also provides a market for industrial output. The rural people, due to lack of awareness of...