According to the National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) data on loans given out by nationalised and cooperative banks, there are more farmers doing agriculture in Delhi than Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal. The farmers in Delhi were allotted loan of Rs 22,077 crore in 2009 alone at mere 5% rate of interest, which is the second highest after agriculture-rich Punjab. Delhi’s loan disbursal amount is bizarre,...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Total Matching Records found : 537
UN study highlights the immense economic and social value of ecosystems
Businesses and policy-makers need to recognize the tremendous economic value of ecosystems, as well as the social and economic costs of losing such natural resources as forests, freshwater, soils and coral reefs, a new United Nations report released today said. The report by the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), a body hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), seeks to galvanize the world to recognize the economic consequences of failing...
More »Punjab Dy CM requests RBI Governor to promote debt swap scheme for farmers
The Punjab Government Thursday requested the Reserve Bank of India that it should impress upon Public Sector banks to aggressively promote Agricultural Debt Swap scheme to free the farmers from the clutches of moneylenders. The Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal raised this issue when Dr. D. Subbarao, Governor, RBI today called on him. The Deputy Chief Minister impressed upon the Governor that the Punjab farmers reeling under Rs....
More »Forever Stuck in a Cycle of Debt and Death by Uddalak Mukherjee
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, since 2003, one Indian farmer has committed suicide every 30 minutes. In 2008, 16,196 farmers took their own lives, bringing the total number of farmer suicides in India between 1997 and 2008 to 199,132. (Significantly, P. Sainath is of the opinion that like all government data, these figures too are unreliable. For when women farmhands kill themselves, their deaths are not enlisted as...
More »Farmers’ suicides: ‘Can’t change policy’
Though terming the cause “genuine”, the Supreme Court Friday refused to intervene in a public interest litigation (PIL) highlighting suicide of farmers as a sign of lapse in the nation’s agricultural policy. “We cannot change the agricultural policy... Show us the law under which we can order a review of the policy and we will direct it. At the end of the day our orders must be enforceable and not just...
More »
