The Mamata Banerjee government is likely to request the Centre to amend a legislation to make contract farming “optional”, an approach that leaves some room for manoeuvre and mirrors the concerns expressed by sections of the Left on agro-marketing reforms. Arup Ray, the new minister for agricultural marketing in Bengal, today told The Telegraph that the Trinamul-led government would neither promote contract farming nor allow big players to control the agro-marketing...

The farmers' agitation in Uttar Pradesh brings into focus the indiscriminate acquisition of land by the state for corporate-led development. ON May 19, three days before the formal observation of the second anniversary of the United Progressive Alliance government, Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi made a categorical announcement that in the monsoon session of Parliament scheduled to begin in July the ruling coalition would bring in legislation that...

The Centre could bring in a mechanism to stop entities from acquiring land beyond the project requirement, a practice which is at the heart of corruption and anger among landowners as seen in western UP. An amendment to the Land Acquisition Act could cap the maximum land to be acquired for different categories of projects or could install a process to check the feasibility of the demand for land. Acquisitions...

The government is scurrying for an alternative to its plan on engaging private sector in providing urban amenities in rural areas. After a good initial response that saw more than 90 companies showing interest in the scheme - Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas, or PURA, - the Rural Development Ministry has received only eight pilot proposals from six companies. Of the 45 shortlisted, most, including big players like Reliance...

If you can’t beat them, join them. The fight for land between villagers and industrialists gets a unique twist in coal-rich belts of Karanpura valley — comprising cheek by jowl blocks Barkagaon and Keredari (Hazaribagh) and Tandwa (Chatra) — with residents asking the Centre’s permission to commercially exploit the area’s natural resources instead of allowing investors from outside. Karanpura is the state’s green bowl for vegetables, but it sits on rich coal...