Op-Eds

Misdirected. Instead of ‘Big Food’ focus, farmers must be empowered to make millets a vital part of food schemes. India is at the forefront of an exciting movement to promote millet consumption. Having successfully proposed 2023 as the International Year of Millets to the United Nations, India has positioned itself as the global leader in...   Read More

During his post-monetary policy media interaction last week, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das declared that the central bank has paused, not pivoted. After raising interest rates by a cumulative 250 bps, in six consecutive meetings during the period May 2022-February 2023, the RBI decided to keep the policy rate unchanged in its first monetary policy meeting...   Read More

India is achieving significant strength in the allied space of agriculture. Fishery, dairy, and livestock are the areas of livelihood support for the millions. Moreover, India’s nutritional and food securities are deeply rooted in this sector. Among the allied activities of agriculture, the fishery is growing at a higher pace and is recognized as a...   Read More

Dramatic changes should not undermine globally accepted standards. While the world is preoccupied with the stability of the western banking system, China has been busy overhauling its financial regulatory architecture. The dramatic changes are China’s fourth major reform in the past two decades, bringing the financial regulatory system under the tight, centralised control of the...   Read More

There is a need for community-based approaches for resolving the water crisis and liberating women from the task of fetching it India accounts for 18 per cent of the world's population, but holds only 4 per cent of its water resources, making it one of the most water-deficient regions in the world As the annual...   Read More

Though the government has been running a Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanisation since 2014, a comprehensive database of farmers’ usage of farm machinery isn’t available. Ownership of power farm equipment in India is low. The recently released NCAER White Paper on ‘Making India a Global Power House in the Farm Machinery Industry’ suggests that there are...   Read More

As India increasingly urbanises, it has become important to measure its economic parameters, not only at the aggregate level but also at the disaggregated level. The literature review suggests that there are differences across city tiers. However, we find that the current statistics simply do not capture the nuances of the urban economic parameters. This...   Read More

Women need healthcare the most but often they are the ones who do not have adequate access to it. As we celebrate another International Women’s Day, it is time to yet again take stock of the progress in gender equity across various parameters of human development. And while there may be some reason to celebrate...   Read More

The key is to not put all eggs in the single basket of state-led programmes and to ensure that other spaces for women’s activism are preserved. The vibrancy of the Indian women’s movement is acknowledged worldwide. However, its gradual transformation has received much less attention. Over the years, its thrust has moved from serving as...   Read More

Small farmers lack access to tools, as the tractor-dominated farm machinery sector suffers from demand, supply constraints India is simply not producing the sort of farm machinery that our small and marginal farmers want or can readily use at a price which appeals to them. Farm machinery comprises equipment used at various stages of farm...   Read More