-The Hindu It is time the government finds a sustainable solution to the malnutrition crisis Development is about expanding the capabilities of the disadvantaged, thereby improving their overall quality of life. Based on this understanding, Maharashtra, one of India’s richest States, is a classic case of a lack of development which is seen in its unacceptably high level of malnutrition among children in the tribal belts. While the State’s per capita income...

-The Hindu It’s time to debate the modalities of the next Census, given the earlier confusion over caste data. As the 2011 Census approached, demands for inclusion of data on caste in Census reached a crescendo. P. Chidambaram, the Union Home Minister at the time, was opposed to collecting caste data and blocked it by claiming that it was logistically impossible for the Census, but caste information could be collected via the...

-The Indian Express Only 21 per cent of India’s milk production gets processed through the organised sector and the rest passes through unorganised small PLAyers. And that’s where the crisis is most intense. Farmers, who had high expectations from the Narendra Modi government, are a disillusioned lot today. Market prices of several crops have remained well below their minimum support prices (MSPs). Moreover, milk prices have fallen by 20 per cent...

-Livemint.com Odisha is a front-runner in women’s land ownership, much of it owing to government policies from the 1980s. But has ownership led to empowerment? Surrounded by sun-drenched paddy fields interspersed with jackfruit and banana trees, Sanakusupadu is a hamlet in Odisha’s tribal-dominated district of Rayagada. Here, almost every married woman owns land. No matter how small the holding, land documents of the 62 households in this village bear the names of the...

-Hindustan Times Unless the deficit is addressed, PLAns to improve incomes in the farm sector are unlikely to succeed According to the 2011 census, 45% of India’s workforce is engaged in non-agricultural activities i.e. professions other than cultivation and agricultural labour. This number diminishes by slightly more than two percentage points if one excludes two other primary sector activities: mining and PLAntations, forestry and fishing. Who are these workers? Which industries and...