While a lot of TN farmers are indeed in a very bad condition, the agitation at Jantar Mantar doesn't seem to be apolitical, says Sudhir Bisht.
The new TDP government will have to mop up over Rs 10,000 crore to fulfill the financial requirements for July, a retired senior bureaucrat said.
he feels they are prone to misuse by borrowers, including farmers, and suggested a rate ceiling for loans by micro finance lenders.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar accused the Congress of ignoring farmers' interests and keeping them poor to ensure cheap grain prices, and asserted that the Modi government empowered them by implementing the Swaminathan commission report to give them remunerative price through MSP.
Ayyakannu, who is also president of the National South Indian Rivers Inter-Linking Farmers Association, said the decision to contest the polls from Uttar Pradesh was to urge the Bharatiya Janata Party to include in their manifesto that their demands, including "profitable prices for farm produce," would be fulfilled.
Farmers, who are pressing for fair price and loan waivers, will march through Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana
Scenes from Azad Maidan.
Speaking at the inauguration and laying of foundation schemes of various schemes, Modi said, Leh and Ladakh will also be benefited by this.
The experience of direct cash transfer under PM-Kisan will be useful in designing a larger scheme of DBT for farmers combining all subsidies and support for the agriculture sector in the future, say Ramesh Chand & SK Srivastava.
It's a major victory for the farmers who trekked 180 km from Nashik over six days under the blazing sun, some even barefooted.
The second phase of Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' in Jharkhand, which was scheduled to commence on Wednesday, has been cancelled, a party official said.
He said the first decision of the cabinet was to approve Rs 20 crore fund for conserving Raigad Fort, which was the capital of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
Against predictions by most exit polls that the ruling Congress had an edge in the state, the BJP banked heavily on the charisma of the PM.
Loan waivers will never be enough. Reforming the agricultural marketing system is essential to addressing the concerns of farmers in a sustainable manner, says Nitin Desai.
As many as 116 farmers have committed suicide due to agrarian reasons so far this year, with maximum cases reported in Maharashtra, followed by Punjab and Telangana.
Thousands of farmers have reached the national capital on their tractor-trolleys and other vehicles, responding to the 'Delhi Chalo' call against the agri-marketing laws enacted at the Centre in September. On Saturday morning, it wasn't clear if they will agree to move to the Burari ground on the outskirts of the city, where police said they can continue with their protest. Many protesters were demanding a better venue in the centre of Delhi. Originally, the protest was meant to be on November 26 and 27.
Farmers said a big reason for the anger was the sudden stopping of wheat procurement by the state government in some places, which had caused the prices to dip below the minimum support price.
Uddhav said fast implementation of the announcement is necessary.
'What is bank recapitalisation? When the rich take loans and do not return and the government returns that money to the banks.' 'What is restructuring 5:25 scheme? The government says don't return now, just tell us you will return after five years.' 'Why don't we apply these schemes to farmers?' 'I want to increase the power of farmers to blackmail the government as everyone in the country has the power to blackmail.'
While the farmers are not getting remunerative prices for their produce, at the same time they are forced to pay high prices for items they consume.
Poonam, daughter of Pramod Mahajan, a MP representing Mumbai North Central said, "They (farmers) are holding the flag of Communists, and urban maoists are misguiding them.
Gandhi said that the Centre should not discriminate amongst states and no politics should be played with farmers suffering across the country.
'The lack of a majority isn't the issue. He has enough in 240, especially as none of his allies can pull down his coalition.' 'That's why he's started as if this were just another, normal term. That pretence is vital for him.' 'The change for Modi 3.0 comes not from numbers, but from the new environment of contestation,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
Priyanka was addressing a rally to canvass for the Congress candidate in the Datia assembly seat of Madhya Pradesh, which will go to polls on November 17.
In Sehore alone, the home district of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, five suicides have been reported.
Harassment, corruption and the burden of compound interest for years are also the reasons.
Shetti said the SSS had committed a "grave mistake" by extending support to the NDA.
Several 'khaps' of Haryana are set to join farmers' tractor parade in Delhi on the Republic Day with thousands of these vehicles leaving various caste councils' villages for the national capital on Sunday.
"People forgot about income for farmers. But for the first time, this thinking has been changed," he said and listed steps the Centre has taken for the welfare of farmers.
Sacked Rajasthan minister Rajendra Gudha had claimed that the red diary which he had secured from the residence of Congress leader Dharmendra Rathore during an income tax raid in July 2020 on the directions of the chief minister had details of Gehlot's financial transactions.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram today announced a Rs 60,000-crore relief package for farmers, including complete waiver of loans given to small and marginal farmers.
'The UPA was the gang that couldn't shoot straight. The NDA is the gang that can't stop shooting. They (the Modi government) are shooting at anybody, everybody, all directions, shooting themselves in the foot.'
Their leaders go abroad and abuse India, while BJP workers sacrifice everything for the sake of the nation, Modi said.
Singh said the farmers opted for 'unusual deeds' to draw media attention as they belong to organisations with only a few thousand members.
Godavari Dange, a school dropout who was widowed at the age of 19 is now changing the lives of farmers in her village and beyond.
The ruling Congress on Wednesday promised a loan waiver scheme for non-farmer loan seekers -- like the landless, craftsmen and small shopkeepers -- setting up of a farmers' commission, construction of two lakh cheap houses for the urban poor and making the state power surplus in Haryana.
Among the states due for election next year are AP, Haryana and Odisha, which have a fair share of agri credit. If these states individually announced debt relief, the combined waiver would be at least around Rs 600 bn to Rs 700 bn. Clearly, this will be a frightening challenge for Indian banks.
Describing it as 'Sankalp Patra', the party in its manifesto promised 33 per cent reservation to women in government jobs and private institutions in the state and free rides in Haryana roadways buses.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
The manifesto said that loans of poor farmers and farm labourers will be waived off and loans of SCs and BCs will also be waived off.
