-Business Standard Interest subvention, crop insurance on the cards The finance ministry is working on a plan to increase the number of workdays in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) from 100 a year per person per household to 150 in areas receiving low monsoon rain. The government might also provide interest subvention and crop insurance in drought-affected regions through the e-Financial Management System (eFMS). “Since the eFMS contains the data...

-Deccan Herald Poor monsoon forcing govt to intensify implementation Notwithstanding the scathing attack on UPA’s schemes, the Modi government would fall back on the previous regime’s flagship programme to rescue the rural economy from second consecutive deficient monsoon. The government would intensify implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in drought hit areas to stop the slide in rural incomes. Officials revealed that the main thrust in MGNREGA implementation in drought affected...

-Livemint.com Politicians prefer a short-term response over a more nuanced, structural solution to the problem of rural distress Confirming everyone’s worst fears, last week the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast a deficient monsoon this year. The next day, some of the newspapers wrongly reported it as a drought (guess breathless reporting is no longer a preserve of the electronic media), adding to the disappointment of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) refusal...

-The Hindu ‘Its geographical distribution is what matters’ Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said here on Thursday that concerns about the impact of a deficient monsoon on the economy were “misplaced” and “far-fetched”. He told presspersons that conclusions were being made in an exaggerated manner after the India Meteorological Department forecast on Tuesday that rainfall would be only 88 per cent of the long-term average. “The speculation and analyses we have seen in the...

-The Economic Times BENGALURU: As the central government devolves more fiscal freedom to the states, they seem to be cutting allocations to social sectors, especially agriculture and allied areas in response, according to the initial findings of a study. The Narendra Modi administration wants to empower states further as part of a push toward cooperative federalism. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's February budget cut allocations to the states by more than half in...