-PTI The farmers, who came from different districts of the state under the banner of Navnirman Krushak Sangathan (NKS), demanded that they be paid pension on attaining 60 years of age Bhubaneswar: After Mumbai, it was the turn of the Odisha assembly to face protests by farmers as thousands of them launched a dharna in front of it on Monday. The farmers are demanding a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of...

-Newsclick.in Despite the state being largely rural, the contribution of agriculture in the state’s gross domestic product is reducing considerably. The state of Himachal Pradesh has a predominantly rural population. Ninety per cent of the people here live in villages. There are 17,882 villages and about 59 urban settlements including two municipal corporations. There are more than 14.9 lakh families in the state. The total number of workers according to the census...

-The Indian Express Unless government takes bold decisions on agri-markets, reducing production costs and increasing demand, its goal to double farmers’ incomes by 2022 will remain a pipe-dream. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the best orators in Indian politics today. He is not only coherent and inspiring but connects with his audience well. He is ambitious and committed to fast-track the economy. He sets high targets and drives government machinery...

-Hindustan Times A newer generation of politicians has again voiced the demand of giving land to landless Dalit households as a means to resolve the crisis of rural livelihoods. But the relentless pursuit of neo-liberal economic policies and liberalisation has rendered most of these demands Utopian Seven decades after Independence, while a majority of farmers cultivate their own land (however small their holdings may be), most Dalit farmers in much of India...

-The Times of India There is a saying in Harendragarh, a tribal village 50 km from Rajasthan’s Banswara town, that if a man eats the last rotla (chapatti) he will fall ill. So by default the last rotla, thinner than the rest and made from leftover dough along with the stale remains of the Dal or vegetable made that day, would land on the plate of the woman of the house....