Passionate about the deepening of agrarian crisis, quite often journalists and media persons cite figures related to farm suicide (as provided by the National Crime Records Bureau) in order to draw the attention of the readers. They do so in the following ways: * Compare the absolute number of farm suicides (viz. suicide by cultivators + suicide by agricultural labourers) across regions/ states for a particular time point or time period...

-The Economic Times Minutes after taking oath on Monday as the new Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Kamal Nath sanctioned the waiver of farm loans in the state, as promised in the Congress election manifesto. Ostensibly, this is to relieve economic distress for farmers. But Nath himself was on record last week saying, “[Farmer distress] is why there are so many suicides.” Thus, the lightning waiver. Before anything else, let’s get the facts...

-Mongabay.com * Indian government enacted the Forest Rights Act in 2006 to correct the historic injustice done to tribal people and forest dwellers but the implementation of the landmark legislation has been far from satisfactory. * A recent study reveals a large variation in the outcomes of claims submitted under the FRA Act across states. It found that states with more forest cover have higher claim distribution rates, while states with presence...

-The Hindu A structural break can be observed in the GDP back series before and after the year 2011-12 India’s national income statistics are under a cloud. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has released official revisions of the GDP estimates for the years 2004-05 to 2013-14 in the Manmohan Singh-led government’s tenure. The revisions make the Narendra Modi government’s performance on the economic front appear better than that of its predecessor. In 2015,...

-VillageSquare.in Women trained as poshan sakhis, or nutrition friends, advice and help rural women, particularly expectant and lactating mothers, to eat nutritious food and overcome anemia and underweight deliveries Koraput (Odisha): Swapnarani (21), an expectant mother, finishes her household work fast to attend the monthly maitri baithak at her village Bhutanagar in Badakeranga panchayat of Odisha’s Koraput district. Maitri baithak, or friendship meeting, provides space for women to discuss issues that concern...