-Scroll.in As the Centre looks to modify the rules on cattle trade, it would do well to consult experts about how the changes would affect farmers. With the government’s assurance to the Supreme Court on Tuesday that it would suspend implementation of new regulations on cattle trade, the nation’s cows, bullocks, bulls and buffaloes are back on the front page. The new rules, notified in May, had been greeted by vociferous...
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Farmers need remunerative prices, not debt waiver, to end rural distress -TK Arun
-The Economic Times Farmers are agitated. Loan waivers have not stemmed protests or farmer suicides. This is a multidimensional problem and also a huge political opportunity for parties that can think constructively. Waiving loans is bad policy. It adds to the fiscal stress of states, straining under the electricity utility debt they have taken over. The states would undo the Centre’s hard-wrought fiscal discipline, scaring rating agencies. Waived loans bring little benefit to...
More »Housing for all: There's a lot to be built -Shreya Deb
-The Hindu Business Line The Government must clear policy bottlenecks for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to meet its ambitious target Amidst the government’s celebrations on completing three years in office, one flagship scheme remains a massive — and challenging — opportunity: Housing for all by 2022. The groundbreaking, affordable housing initiative backing this promise, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), plans to provide homes to 18 million households in urban India...
More »Organic certification may help boost profits for mango farmers -Sandeep Moudgal
-The Times of India BENGALURU: Major post-harvest losses of the mango value chain - from farmer to local market -- due to improper handling, transportation, grading, packaging and storage has finally caught the attention of the government, just as the season draws to a close. To stem these losses, the government is now looking to introduce a system of organic certification to increase scientific harvesting and storage of the fruit. According to...
More »Is direct benefit transfer really a panacea for the rural poor? -Sanjiv Phansalkar
-VillageSquare.in Given the complex and varied situations in rural India, the results of the direct benefit transfer method are so far mixed at best and debilitating at worst, as seen in the subsidies for farm equipment and fertilizers Direct benefit transfer (DBT), a system through which government programs transfer funds directly to bank accounts of beneficiaries, is hailed as a major intervention that is expected to cut a whole lot of misdirection...
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