In 2024, global employment expanded in line with a growing labour force, keeping the global unemployment rate steady at 5 per cent, similar to that of 2023. Slowing productivity growth remains a major bottleneck with respect to expanding the opportunities for decent work. On the back of stable unemployment rates, …
JEYPORE: Loan burden claimed the life of yet another farmer in the State. Damburu Gowada, a 65-year-old farmer of Koraput village under Kolar panchayat of Boipariguda block, allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison over loan burden on Wednesday. Sources said Damburu had taken loans from various sources to cultivate paddy …
The least developed countries (LDCs) are a group of countries that have been classified by the United Nations as least developed in terms of their low gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, weak human assets and high degree of economic vulnerability. This Report argues that the LDCs need to go …
The proposed legislation for regulation of the for-profit microfinance sector has a number of problems. It makes the Reserve Bank of India the sole regulator of the sector when this is the domain of the states rather than the central bank. The proposal will permit a back-door entry for the …
Unlike the rest of the subcontinent, Assam retained many elements of its tribal economy well into the 19th century. With the British invasion the picture began to change gradually. Opening up of the Brahmaputra Valley in 1826 brought about two major changes in the mode of surplus extraction. One, colonial …
The Trade and Development Report 2011 focuses on the post-crisis policy challenges in the world economy. It concludes that the recovery is slowing down and that the "two-speed recovery" is mainly the result of wide differences in domestic demand. In developing countries strong wage growth and sustained public support have …
With only four years remaining in which to achieve the key targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), most of the world’s Heads of State and Government came to the United Nations in September 2010 to take stock of progress made thus far. Despite significant setbacks owing to the 2008-2009 …
One might not expect every butcher in rural Greece to recognise Costas Lapavitsas. He is, after all, an economist, a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. His research interests include the evolution and function of the Japanese financial system—probably not staples of discussion among Greek …
This article examines the National Sample Survey Organisation unit record data pertaining to debt and investment (59th round) and highlights inequality in access to credit by certain segments of society. In particular, it shows that weaker sections such as female-headed households have a much lower access than their male counterpart …
THE Maharashtra government has relaxed the criteria for giving aid to families of farmers who have committed suicide. The move comes in the wake of recent media reports that 4,000 farmers’ families in Vidarbha were denied relief on the ground that land was not registered in the name of the …
Farmers’ suicides in Bundelkhand are a result of several years of neglect of the agricultural sector and industrial backwardness. Neither the Uttar Pradesh nor the Madhya Pradesh government has made efforts to address the basic issues of ecological degradation, agricultural modernisation and rural indebtedness. The demand for a separate state …
It is the peasantry that cry loudly and piteously for relief, and our programme must deal with their present condition. Real reflief can only come by a great change in the land laws and the basis of the present system of land tenure. We have among us many big landowners, …
The article “Prospects and Policy Challenges in the Twelfth Plan” by Montek S Ahluwalia (EPW, 21 May 2011) offers a comprehensive overview of the subject, but what is missing is a discussion of the risks to the economy. An enumeration and discussion of the many risks that must be taken …
Y V Reddy’s central point is that while outlining a strategy for the Twelfth Plan, we must also focus on the risks that the economy may face and evolve a strategy to manage those risks. This is sage advice and a very useful input as we move towards finalising a …
Bhubaneswar Bindhani has not heard of a UNDP Human Development Report Paper, ‘Migration and Human Development’. It is quite likely the authors of the 2009 report did not take note of the fortunes of this resident of Nuagaon village in Odisha’s Nuapada district when they wrote, “migration fosters development of …
A LOOMING food crisis in the world and high food inflation rates at home made Pranab Mukherjee’s proposals to boost agriculture in his 2011 budget more keenly watched than usual. These are factors that clearly weighed with the finance minister who repeatedly said that his principal concern this year has …
As many as 806 farmers have committed suicide in the last two-and-a-half years in the State. Among the districts, Hassan has reported the highest number of suicides at 101, according to a written reply by Agriculture Minister Umesh Katti to the Legislative Assembly on Monday. Bidar stood second with 88 …
EXTREME weather conditions over the past few weeks have destroyed crops in several states, triggering farmers’ suicides. In all, over 300 farmers reportedly killed themselves in Andhra Pradesh (275), Odisha (36) and Madhya Pradesh (7), the worst hit states. Media reports said some of the deaths were caused by heart …
The rural distress in Andhra Pradesh has been more than evident in reported incidents of farmers’ suicides and hunger deaths. The incidence of indebtedness, particularly among small and marginal farming households in the state, is the highest in India. By passively encouraging microfinance institutions to expand without limits in a …
IT IS back to square one for the farmers of Jalaun district in Uttar Pradesh. Reeling under persistent drought from 2003-08, they were driven to mentha (mint) cultivation that promised good returns. Instead, it increased debts. Cultivation of this water-intensive crop is fast shrinking due to depletion of groundwater and …
