-The Statesman Agriculture is the source of livelihood for nearly 700 million people in India, representing a huge workforce. More than half the GDP of the rural economy is based on agriculture. It is not just a profession but a traditional occupation, a way of life. Agriculture is characterised by small and fragmented land holdings. Small (up to one hectare of land) and marginal (more than one ha and up to 2...
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Narendra Modi government's first year sees record farmer suicides -Yogesh Pawar
-DNA From May 20, 2014 to May 24, 2015 has seen as many as 1,306 farmers suicides, a 40% jump from last year. In the middle of the media blitzkrieg over the completion of a year in office of the Narendra Modi government comes the information that it is anything but 'achche din' in the farmer suicide country of Vidarbha. From May 20, 2014 to May 24, 2015 has seen as many...
More »All ears for farm reforms -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express One area that has seen some reform, though, relates to minimum support prices (MSP) payable on official paddy and wheat purchases. The “perfect storm” kicked up by extreme weather events and lower crop price realisations — not to mention the political backlash resulting from its controversial land acquisition ordinance — has meant that the first year of the Modi sarkar has gone by without any major reforms in...
More »55 per cent of Lok Sabha MPs spent nothing on constituencies -Gangadhar S Patil
-IndiaSpend.org As many as 298 of 542 Lok Sabha members have not spent a single rupee of the annual Rs 5 crore that is set aside for constituency development A year after they took office, 298 of 542 members of the 16th Lok Sabha – India’s lower house of Parliament – have not spent a rupee from the Rs 5 crore that is set aside annually for them to develop their constituencies,...
More »One Year of Modi govt: Bure din for social sector -Aruna Roy & Nikhil Dey
-The Indian Express Modi government has damaged the rights-based legislative framework without spelling out what will replace it. No one in the last two decades has come to power with greater euphoria than the Narendra Modi sarkar. It has taken less than a year for that euphoria to recede and change to disappointment. There are sufficient reasons for this change. The celebrations of the first year in office of this government are in sharp...
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