-Economic and Political Weekly Farmers' unions and political parties have been demanding the implementation of the Swaminathan minimum support price (cost plus 50%) to address agrarian crisis and farmers' distress. But they have not raised demands for the implementation of the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers, which have the potential to provide lasting solutions. Ranjit Singh Ghuman (ghumanrs@yahoo.co.uk) is a Nehru SAIL Chair Professor, Centre for Research in Rural and...

-Business Standard The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) helped lower poverty by  32 per cent between 2004-05 and 2011-12, lifting almost 14 million in this regard, says a recent survey by the National Council for Applied Economic Research and the University of Maryland. The study involved 26,000 households and used data from the two rounds of the India Human Development Survey, 2004-5 and 2011-12. In this period, though overall economic...

-The Hindu Business Line The numbers may look good but the consumer’s monthly budget hasn’t eased up. Here are four reasons why the common man has no respite from inflation It’s official! Inflation is down. The wholesale price inflation has been in negative territory for the last eight months. CPI, the consumer price-based inflation, has also dropped, from 8-8.5 per cent in the beginning of 2014 to sub-5 per cent now. Inflation...

Although MGNREGA has been looked upon with suspicion by the Government, industry as well as the landed farming class for various reasons including inefficiency, leakages, corruption, rise in rural wages, cost escalation etc., a new report reveals that the programme reduced poverty among its participants between 2004-05 and 2011-12 by providing employment. The report entitled Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: A Catalyst for Rural Transformation has estimated that...

-The Hindu Business Line Raw silk duty cut triggers sharp fall Bengaluru: Unable to deal with mounting debts amidst diminishing returns from his three-acre farm, Siddaramu, a sericulture farmer in his mid-fifties at Abburdoddi near Channapatna, committed suicide recently in his silkworm rearing house. The trigger for this unfortunate incident was the crash in silk cocoon prices and the issuance of recovery notice by the bank, says Chandramma, his wife. Other crops too failed Siddaramu,...