-Down to Earth Rice cultivation has led to waterlogging and soil salinity in Haryana’s Jhajjar district CASTE-BASED khap panchayats of Haryana are usually in the news for passing regressive and, often, controversial orders in the name of honouring social customs. But this year in January, the Jhakkar khap panchayat of Jhajjar district gave a rather unusual order in the larger interest of the farming community. It ordered that all the 36...
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Rural prosperity no mirage; real rural wages have grown 6.8% each year in last 4 years-A Gulati and AK Jena
-The Economic Times Every concerned and right-thinking citizen of this country wants poverty to be reduced as early as possible. Governments and policymakers have given assurances, time and again, that they are making their earnest efforts in that direction. Yet, there is a big debate in the country, ranging from the very definition of poverty to the number of people below the poverty line. Some academic stalwarts have devoted almost their whole...
More »Notifying Farming as an Essential Service: An Authoritarian Manoeuvre-SAHRDC
-Economic and Political Weekly The Government of India is considering a proposal to notify farming as an essential service. This is ostensibly to bring drought relief to farmers suffering from a weak monsoon - a laudable goal indeed. However, if farming is deemed an "essential service", farmers and farm workers could lose many of their political and civic rights because the government can then invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act to...
More »Chhattisgarh eliminates farmer suicides by fudging death data -Supriya Sharma
-The Times of India RAIPUR: The sky is overcast, the fields lush with paddy. A good harvest beckons and to complete the picture of a rural idyll, Chhattisgarh has posted 'zero' farmer suicides for 2011. For a state that has consistently reported the highest rate of farmer suicides in India, with 1,773 cases in 2008; 1,802 in 2009; and 1,126 in 2010, eliminating farmer suicides would be a thundering achievement. But...
More »Jharkhand offers Rs.410 crore relief package to farmers
-IANS In view of the looming drought situation in Jharkhand, the state government has announced a Rs.410 crore relief package for farmers, an official said Monday. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arjun Munda Sunday. The special package for farmers includes Rs.600 per acre for diesel subsidy and interest free loans, among other measures. "From the package, Rs.240 crore will be for interest free loans, Rs.150 crore for diesel...
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