BANWARA, India – In the fall of 2006, Gita Devi was pregnant with her sixth child when her family fell on hard times. A severe drought made it more difficult than ever to find farm work here in India’s northeastern plains. The family couldn’t afford food. It was unable to get a government ration card to buy grains and rice at steep discounts, even though it clearly was poor enough to...

Indian agriculture can be transformed into a healthy and vibrant system, where farmers’ suicides are relegated to history. As we enter 2010, the script for a futuristic agriculture which brings back the smile on the face of the Indian farmer, without leaving any scar on the environment, is being rewritten. What began as a small initiative some six years back in a non-descript village in Khamam district, has now spread to over...

It would be great if the enthusiasm on the financial inclusion agenda gets a pause from the frantic do-gooders . Too many people appear to be enthusiastic about serving the poor - and the kindness is killing. Back in 1956, we discovered that cooperatives were a great instrument to reach out to the poor. These were peoples' institutions, local and would be responsive to the problems of their members. A set of...

  For women, the NREGA would bring important social gains   Not being an expert on the subject and too lazy to read all the fine print, I do not know the exact allocations under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act this year. But I gather the money has been cut down, largely because the sums allocated last year were not fully used by most states. Maybe there were other considerations...

The Budget provides proof of the United Progressive Alliance government having forgotten the importance of its own “flagship schemes”. BUDGET 2012-13 provides conclusive proof that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has lost its way. It has managed the remarkable feat of upsetting almost everyone and making no one happy. The Budget is highly regressive in both taxation and spending terms and will raise prices of essentials, so aam aurat and...