-TheWire.in As the unorganised sector continues suffering, civil society members, bankers and politicians remain sceptical of demonetisation’s impact on black money. It is no secret that India’s informal sector, a largely cash-based economy, has taken a big hit because of demonetisation. While the government insists that the suffering is only temporary and worth it for cracking down on black money, several representatives from the unorganised sector are presenting a starkly different account...

-The Indian Express Unorganised sector is worst-affected by demonetisation. Can banks go to them? An incident in 2000, during my initial years of work, woke me up to an uncomfortable question about post-economic liberalisation India. I was at a meeting with waste-pickers at Digha in Patna and a woman told me of her troubles with a Rs 500 note. She had saved money and changed it into a Rs 500 note, wrapped...

-The Indian Express These enterprises — whom she broadly categorises as ‘rural commercial capital’ — enjoy privileged access to formal credit networks. In her insightful study of the working of agricultural markets in West Bengal, British development studies scholar Barbara Harris-White has documented in detail how trade in farm produce is controlled through a web of rural and semi-urban agro commercial enterprises. These enterprises — whom she broadly categorises as ‘rural commercial capital’...

-TheWire.in Demonetisation will only affect those who conduct transactions in cash, are not a part of the formal banking system or have not converted their cash into assets. The government’s demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes is a contentious issue, but is understandable. Such schemes may have not worked in the past, but a political commitment had to be honoured. The question is not whether the government is right for...

-The Indian Express Farmers are facing the heat from both collapse of demand and inability to purchase inputs post-demonetisation. Junnar (Maharashtra): The last one week and more has brought nothing but bad news for Vasant Pimpale. This farmer from Pargaon Tarfe Ale, a village in Pune district’s Junnar taluka, has already lost 11 tonnes of green chilli grown on eight out of his 15-acres holding. The loss hasn’t been courtesy drought, flood...