-Firstpost.com The recent increases in minimum support prices have attracted two criticisms from two opposite sides. One is that this is less than what farmers deserve, the second is that this is populist and ignores larger macro side effects. The increase in fair remunerative price for sugarcane has also been criticised for not adequately addressing the woes of the sugar sector. Ramesh Chand, member, agriculture, NITI Aayog talks to Firstpost on...
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Reform agriculture marketing systems to address farm distress -Sudipto Mundle
-Livemint.com The actual determination of MSP is driven by a ‘business as usual’ practice of incremental increases in line with past trend, combined with the political need for ‘look good’ optics The recent increase in the minimum support prices (MSP) for major kharif crops has reignited the debate about food price policy. Some analysts believe that the increase has been excessive, that it will push up Inflation, both directly and also indirectly...
More »Arvind Subramanian, outgoing Chief Economic Adviser to the Ministry of Finance, interviewed by TCA Sharad Raghavan (The Hindu)
-The Hindu The outgoing CEA also batted for the lateral entry of talent into the government The compensation payable to the States for revenue loss arising due to GST is just ?5,000 crore, far lower than was estimated, according to Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian. In a candid interview to The Hindu, the outgoing CEA also batted for the lateral entry of talent into the government, saying that it was a “no brainer”...
More »Retail Inflation at five-month high of 5% in June despite easing food prices
-PTI The retail Inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.87 per cent in May. It was 1.46 per cent in June 2017. Retail Inflation rose to 5 per cent in June, a five-month high despite easing food prices, government data showed on Thursday. The retail Inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 4.87 per cent in May. It was 1.46 per cent in June 2017. The earlier high was in January...
More »MSP -- Unfair to farmers in food bowl states -Manjit S Kang
-The Tribune The input costs of only chosen farmers are considered to decide the MSP. This is unfair to the farmers of the 'Granary of India' as their input costs are much higher than those of farmers from the rest of the country. In the Indian system, farmers are the only 'businessmen' who cannot set their own price for their products —foodgrains. Even a 'rehrhi-wala' sets his own price daily for whatever...
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