News: The enactment of farm laws, sustained farmer protests against them over the year and the eventual repeal has many takeaways for the future policymakers. Seven such policy lessons are discussed. Together they form a toolkit for the future reformer. What are key policy lessons from the farm law fiasco? Lesson 1: Push for simultaneous… Continue reading The farm laws fiasco offers 7 lessons on how to reform in a democracy
Category: 9 PM Daily Articles
Proposal to create bad bank for farm loans raises several issues that need careful deliberation
News: Recently, at a meeting of the Indian Banks’ Association, the idea of floating an asset reconstruction company (ARC) to improve the recovery from bad loans in the agricultural sector was discussed. As per the RBI’s Financial Stability Report, bad loans for the agricultural sector stood at 9.8% at the end of March 2021. In… Continue reading Proposal to create bad bank for farm loans raises several issues that need careful deliberation
MSP is no silver bullet to boost farmers’ income
News: Even as the central government has announced its withdrawal of the three farm laws, farmer unions have persisted in their demand to make the minimum support price (MSP) a legal entitlement. But, even if it becomes a legal right, the MSP, in its current form, is unlikely to resolve the problems of Indian farmers… Continue reading MSP is no silver bullet to boost farmers’ income
We’re on a knife’s edge between global reflation and stagflation
News: Massive stimulus packages, given during the pandemic, could lead to high inflation amid low growth, if global production capacity lags overall demand. Contents1 Why the stimulus packages were given?2 What is the consequence?3 What are the implications for India?4 What is the way forward? Why the stimulus packages were given? As the pandemic spread… Continue reading We’re on a knife’s edge between global reflation and stagflation
The Goa government’s TReDS adoption is worthy of emulation
News: Central Govt has taken various steps to improve working capital (capital to manage day-to-day expenses) situation of small businesses. RBI too had launched TReDS platform to towards this end. However, many govt procurers lie outside the coverage of TReDS. It’s in this light that an initiative by the Goa govt assumes significance, wherein it registered… Continue reading The Goa government’s TReDS adoption is worthy of emulation
Draft extended producer responsibility policy: How gaps in achieving fundamental goals can be closed
News: MoEFCC has released a draft EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) policy for management of plastic waste in India. The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 introduced the concept of EPR to manage plastics in India. It has seen inadequate progress in the last five years as the policy failed to translate into action, due to the… Continue reading Draft extended producer responsibility policy: How gaps in achieving fundamental goals can be closed
Basking in reflected glory
News: The recent appointment of Parag Agrawal, as the CEO of US-based company ‘Twitter’ started renewed debate on brain drain from India. What are the reasons for brain drain from India? It started in the late-1960s when private sector companies were few and there were few good jobs available in public sector undertakings. Unlike India,… Continue reading Basking in reflected glory
Why India will be scrutinised at Summit for Democracy
News: US will host a virtual “summit for democracy”, which will bring together leaders of 100 countries, civil society and private sector representatives. The summit will convene around 3 broad themes — defending democracy against authoritarianism, addressing and fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights. Why India is likely to be scrutinised at the… Continue reading Why India will be scrutinised at Summit for Democracy
A new era in public procurement
News: Recently, the Department of Expenditure in the Ministry of Finance, issued a notification on the General Instructions on Procurement and Project Management. These instructions set out a number of desirable actions in government purchases of works contracts and services. Currently, these are applicable to only Central government entities and Central public sector units. The… Continue reading A new era in public procurement
The way to tackle malnutrition
News: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) has released the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5). There has been tardy progress in reducing undernutrition, wasting and stunting. Contents1 What are the findings of NFHS 5?2 What are the lacunae in the system?3 What steps can be adopted to improve the progress?4 What should be the way… Continue reading The way to tackle malnutrition
