-The Times of India Kishore Tiwari has been taking up the cause of the farmers since several years. Farm suicide in the cotton-district of Yavatmal came into focus due to his persistent efforts of continuously informing the media. After the BJP came into power in Maharashtra, Tiwari was roped in as chief of Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavalamban Samiti (VNSSM), a state government think-tank on agriculture. He feels it is time to reduce...
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It was the suddenness of demonetisation that added immensely to its costs, and nothing to its benefits -Shankar Raghuraman
-The Times of India blog Whatever its critics may say, there is one unambiguous achievement of the demonetisation drive. The Reserve Bank of India can surely now claim its rightful place in the Guinness or Limca books for the world record in time spent on a single count of currency notes. But what about the other benefits that the finance ministry claimed after RBI announced the results of this mahayajna of...
More »Punjab's water stress foregrounds tough policy trade-offs -Sanjiv Shankaran
-The Times of India blog A reply by Water Resources minister Uma Bharti to a Lok Sabha question on groundwater depletion foregrounds tough trade-offs facing India’s policymakers. According to Bharti, an assessment of groundwater resources and usage showed that 16% of 6,584 assessment units in India are “overexploited.” A table which accompanies her reply provides state-wise data. Here, Punjab stands out for the magnitude of overexploitation. If 16% of assessed units in India...
More »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 »Waiving farm loans is not only bad for the economy but also detrimental to interests of the farmer -Ram Singh
-The Economic Times blog Farmers, from Punjab in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south, have started agitations demanding farm loans be waived. The Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra governments have already considered it politically expedient to write them off. Some other states may follow the suit. However, such decisions are as misguided as they are misleading. Nonetheless, it will be a mistake to treat the agitations as a domino effect of...
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