-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Corporate India and public sector undertakings are likely to fail Narendra Modi government's ambitious plan to have toilet in each and every school. With the August 15 deadline fast approaching, HRD ministry has decided to take help of state governments and if need be get directly involved in construction of toilets. A senior HRD official said, "Eleven big corporates, 67 public sector undertakings including Banks had...

-Hindustan Times Mumbai: Just how much debt does it take for a farmer in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra to take the extreme step of killing himself? The shocking findings of a new study reveal it could be as little as Rs 10,000. Days after fresh data from the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) revealed that Maharashtra has the highest number of suicides by distressed farmers among all states, a new analysis...

-The Indian Express These are the root causes of agricultural distress. Farmers need better irrigation and access to markets. Speaking at the foundation day celebrations of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) on July 12, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that there were reasons to smile on the economic front as India remains a bright spot, despite the global slowdown. He talked about the 7-8 per cent...

There is a class angle to farmers' suicide in India. Close to three-quarter of farmers who committed suicide in 2014 were small and marginal farmers. ‘Bankruptcy or indebtedness’ accounted for one-fifth of total farmers’ suicide during 2014. The report entitled Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2014 by the National Crime Records Bureau of Ministry of Home Affairs clarifies the doubt that indebtedness and Bankruptcy were major causes of farmers' suicide,...

-The Indian Express On average, 15 people chose death every hour across the country; one out of six victims housewives. On an average around 15 persons committed suicide every hour across the country in 2014, according to data released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). As many as 1.31 lakh persons committed suicide across the country last year, with Maharashtra having the highest number of cases in any state. Among major...