-Livemint.com The issue of frequent hikes in fuel PRIces is a matter of debate and concern, law and justice minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said after a Union cabinet meeting New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on Wednesday signalled its intent to stay the course on fuel PRIcing reforms and said that it was working toward a “long-term solution”. This comes against the backdrop of an international crude oil PRIce rally, with...

-Livemint.com India needs to defend policies that make agriculture remunerative and stand by its poor at this stage of development In an attempt to combat rural distress, the Union budget announced this year by finance minister Arun Jaitley promised a new deal to farmers—minimum support PRIces (MSP) that would be 150% of the cost of production. The government is expected to announce the first set of support PRIces under the new policy in...

-Livemint.com In the last three years, wages of agricultural labourers have increased only by 0.5% per year while those of non-agricultural workers have declined by 0.25% per year, the worst so far in 30 years The agrarian economy continues to be plagued by falling output PRIces, declining incomes and increased variation in agricultural production pointing to a situation of uncertainty and vulnerability among most rural residents. This has created an unprecedented demand...

-Hindustan Times Government’s decision is aimed to cut dependence of small and marginal farmers on usurious informal PRIvate lenders. The government has streamlined lending norms in schemes such as the Kisan Credit Card to boost institutional credit flow to small and marginal farmers who make up over 90% of people engaged in agriculture and, as a class, are highly vulnerable to risks. The aim is to cut their dependence on usurious...

-The Hindu Small farmers are getting only 30-40% of loans meant for the sector, says RBI report New Delhi: The small and marginal farmers are missing out on the bulk of agricultural credit, as per information provided by the Reserve Bank of India, which showed they are receiving only 30-40% of loans meant for the sector. As per a report submitted by the RBI to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture in response...