Agriculture Ministry’s Claim on Farm Bill 'Consultations' Runs Contrary to its RTI Reply

The Union government has claimed before the Supreme Court that “serious, sincere and constructive efforts” were made by the Centre to “engage” with the farmers before the farm legislations were passed. However, the recent Right to Information (RTI) reply by the Ministry of Agriculture reveals that there is no record of any such consultations with any of the stakeholders, especially farmers’ unions.The Wire reports.

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‘Mere Paas Sarkaar Hai’

Indian policy-makers have long argued that Indian agriculture must be ‘reformed’ and unshackled from the state’s regulations and controls. However, the agrarian distress in the past decades has shown that the Indian state must “intervene in multiple markets” and “make critical investments” if Indian agriculture is to flourish, The India Forum argues.

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NFHS-5: Child mortality drops, prevalence of malnutrition remains high

Down to Earth reports that as per the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS) - despite a notable decline in the child mortality rates in the country, the prevalence of malnutrition continues to remain high.The fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) covered a total of 17 states and five UTs in the first phase of the survey. It also points out that rural children were found to be more vulnerable than their urban counterparts in a majority of states.

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Banks repeatedly violate RBI’s circular, deny student loans citing parents’ credit score

In total disregard of their mandate to provide education loans to deserving but economically disadvantaged students, India's public-sector banks continue to deny student loans.The common reason for the disqualification is their parent’s poor CIBIL score – a number that the banks use to assess the creditworthiness of a potential borrower.This is when as The Caravan reports, the RBI circular clearly indicates that the students, and not their parents, are considered the principal borrowers.

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Contempt of Court: Does Criticism Lower the Authority of the Judiciary?

In the wake of the SC’s recent decision to proceed with the criminal contempt of court cases against stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra and cartoonist Rachita Taneja, EPW explores whether the law punishing contempt of court leaves undue room for interpretation at the discretion of judges.It points to the danger of such discretion having the potential to be used to curb criticism of the judiciary.

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