Agriculture needs practical solutions! There was recently the Rajya Sabha debate on farmers issues, farmers’s suicides for a record five and half hours. Members cutting across party lines spoke unanimously. M.S.Gill, a former Union Agriculture Secretary, being a senior authority on the subject said it is too serious a topic. So too Rajya Sabha Chariman,…
Author: V.Isvarmurti
Karnataka farmers’ insurance model
Rajasthan Chief Minister visits Bangalore Meet Dr. Devi Shetty of Narayan Hrudalaya Discusses farmers insurance scheme for adoption in Rajasthan Ms. Vasundara Raje is no ordinary Chief Minister. Given her royal background and equally her son, Dhusyant Raje, an young M.P. who is also engaged back in his rural base concentrating on agriculture on modern…
Nagaland produces a human development report
For the first time, Nagaland, the North Easter region state has come out with a perspective plan for 2020. Some of the key achievements are: The “social capital” and resilience of the Naga village communities have remained intact and are beginning to help overcome several difficulties. “The village councils, village development boards and the recently…
National Urban Renewal Mission
The Central Government has formulated (or still formulating?) an urban renewal infrastructure plan for 60 selected cities in India. This, the minister concerned, Mr.Gulam Nabi Azad has said. We also believe there can’t be any rural development unless the urban development is properly planned. Whether this grand plan will succeed or when it will really…
Economics and politics : Economic change?
Not possible without a clear political will! It is political will,rather than any economic wisdom that propels economic change. Economics in its grand design must be seen essentially as people’s hopes and aspirations. Economic science or art may be about dry statistics or figures.But economic trnasformation calls for a vision and a drive for mobilising…
Agricultural extension : Make agri/horti dept. officials and scientists spend time in villages!
Time to partly privatise and for private participation. There was this news recently. The Union Minister for Planning M.A.Raja Shekaran, a senior politician from Karnataka had participated at the Bangalore based Agriculture University on a, mouthful topic, called “Extension of methodological issues in impact assessment of agriculture and rural development programmes”. From the way this…
What is education? What is education for?
Confusing the means and ends! Universities in crisis There seems to be utter confusion in education sector. Policy makers seem helpless! Even the initial noises seem to have died! Yes, the statistics and budgets are on paper. On the ground nothing is happening! Once a while it is nice to stand up and have a…
Inequality? Poverty? Or, denial of freedoms?
Education’s unfinished agenda! You can’t have everything in life, can you? Life doesn’t offer you too many choices, does it? Have you ever thought of these questions, do you? Yes, there is too much poverty in the world, in India! There is too much inequality, in the world, in India! There is too much denial…