-Livemint.com These farmers belong to Wardha district, which is among the worst-hit by drought for two years in a row New Delhi: More than 100 farmers from a drought-hit district of Maharashtra asked the state government for permission to commit suicide, but decided not to take the extreme step after officials counselled them against it, the government has told Parliament. One hundred and nine farmers from Wardha district of Maharashtra—among of the...

-Report by Delhi Solidarity Group The Government of India presented its annual budget with much fanfare, claiming it to be propoor and pro-rural, but the question looms whether it will really change the lives of the marginalized sections of the society. For a country like India that claims to be ‘democratic, socialist, sovereign, republic’ working towards the ‘welfare’ of its citizens it might be assumed that the key areas on priority...

-AP/Bloomberg Whether Modi can raise farmer incomes without stoking inflation may determine if his economic vision is any different from the previous Congress-led govt New Delhi: Shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi swept to power in 2014, his first economic plan promised modern cities, manufacturing corridors and bullet trains to aspirational Indians yearning to join a ‘neo middle class.’ This week his latest budget struck a much different tone, listing a slew...

-Business Standard Cess, surcharges come in handy New Delhi: Looking to leave its political imprint over spending in rural India, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has budgeted for a massive 31 per cent hike in its share of spending on nine big-ticket centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) in 2016-17 over last year's budgetary allocation. Last year's Budget mantra of 'cooperative federalism' has been sidestepped to favour political exigencies. To fund these schemes, which...

-Livemint.com A growth-first approach may work in the short-term, but India needs to prioritize sustainability simultaneously The Union Budget 2016-17, seeking to “transform India”, has been hailed for its emphasis on agricultural growth and sustainability. Symbolically, the finance minister put “agriculture and farmers’ welfare” first in his nine-point agenda. The words “agriculture” and “farmer” found 20 and 32 mentions, respectively, in the budget speech, the highest in the last decade. On the...