-Economic and Political Weekly A survey to identify who the poor are and how many are actually poor is necessary if programmes and benefits targeted at the needy are to reach them. The Socio Economic Caste Census, of which partial results have been published, was intended to do this. Yet, even a cursory look at the figures indicates that they call for a willing suspension of disbelief. N C Saxena (naresh.saxena@gmail.com) was...
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Did the number of farmer suicides really halve last year? -Sayantan Bera
-Livemint.com Change of definition behind fall rather than plan for bettering lot of poor farmers, improving agricultural economy New Delhi: Between 2013 and 2014, the number of farmer suicides halved. That’s what the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) which tracks farmer suicides would have us believe. It isn’t an improvement in India’s agricultural economy or a programme aimed at bettering the lot of poor farmers that has achieved this. Instead, it is a...
More »Thirsty in a Wi-Fi-wala village -Sarita Brara
-The Hindu Business Line Digital dreams are cheaper than a pot of drinking water in Tila Shahbazpur, near Delhi A Wi-Fi-enabled village with no potable water! Yes, this is Tila Shahbazpur, which was in the news a few months ago as the first village in Uttar Pradesh to get Wi-Fi connectivity. “While [Delhi Chief Minister Arvind] Kejriwal is yet to fulfil his promise, we have done it in no time,” boasted Samajwadi Party...
More »Petty cultivators & agricultural labourers worst victims of farm suicide
There is a class angle to farmers' suicide in India. Close to three-quarter of farmers who committed suicide in 2014 were small and marginal farmers. ‘Bankruptcy or indebtedness’ accounted for one-fifth of total farmers’ suicide during 2014. The report entitled Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2014 by the National Crime Records Bureau of Ministry of Home Affairs clarifies the doubt that indebtedness and bankruptcy were major causes of farmers' suicide,...
More »Maharashtra records half of country’s farmer suicide cases -Julie Mariappan
-The Times of India CHENNAI: It is an indication of the distress in the agriculture sector in the country. As many as 5,650 farmers, including 68 in Tamil Nadu, committed suicide last year, mainly due to bankruptcy or indebtedness, family problems and crop failure, said the latest report of the national crime records bureau. The premier central agency has correlated the data for the first time, amid outrage over growing incidents...
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