-The Hindu India does not create 55 lakh new jobs every year, as claimed by a new report A recent research report titled “Towards a Payroll Reporting in India” authored by the Group Chief Economic Adviser of the State Bank of India and a professor from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore has caught the media’s and the Prime Minister’s fancy. Ostensibly, the main objective of the report was to make a...

-Hindustan Times Access to formal credit can be a major game-changer in determining farm-incomes. It is to be expected that richer farmers would find it easier to avail of formal credit lines. What ails Indian farmers? The answer to this question is often mired in ideological quarrels. Some blame a lack of reforms in agricultural markets, while others accuse the state of not doing enough to support farming. Systemic issues are...

-The Hindu * What’s the problem? The year 2017 was marked by several farmers’ protests nationwide, with a few turning violent. Last month, in New Delhi, 184 farmer groups came together from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Telangana to take part in a ‘protest walk.’ The protest once again highlighted the plight of farmers and the extent of agrarian distress. The agriculture sector is characterised by instability in incomes...

-The Hindu The Chief Statistician of India on the economy, the meaning of the new series of GDP data, and the need to wait for the impact of demonetisation to unfold T.C.A. Anant is the Chief Statistician of India, and Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. He has been in charge of several notable changes in the way economic data has been recently presented, including the new GDP and Gross Value...

-The Hindu We need to revisit the credit policy with a focus on the outreach of banks and financial inclusion Since Independence, one of the primary objectives of India’s agricultural policy has been to improve farmers’ access to institutional credit and reduce their dependence on Informal Credit. As informal sources of credit are mostly usurious, the government has improved the flow of adequate credit through the nationalisation of commercial banks, and the...