I can’t get myself excited about the assembly election in Bihar where polling began today. This is a strange feeling for an election junkie like myself who has spent more than three decades tracking elections professionally, politically, and passionately. It is not just fatigue. Nor is it because, initially, the outcome seemed predetermined; I can’t get myself excited even after the race […]

Is farming profitable?” Now, take a guess: from which part of India do you expect to hear a ‘yes’ to this question? I bet you would say, Punjab and Haryana, followed by Maharashtra and other western states. South might come after that. And you would expect to hear a loud ‘no’ from eastern India and, of course, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. You are wrong. In the first week […]

One week in Haryana’s Sirsa district convinced me that the farmers’ movement is resurrecting itself. Just as police firing on farmers in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur in June 2017 led to a sudden eruption of the movement, the three recent farm laws of the Narendra Modi government have triggered the second phase of the movement after it was suddenly extinguished in 2019. I was […]

Do Indian farmers understand the agrarian economy better than Ashok Gulati? Ridiculous as it might sound, the answer could well be: yes. Professor Ashok Gulati is the leading agricultural economist in India, and among the scholars I read, consult and respect. He combines solid scholarship with genuine concern for the farmers. He has the spine to stand against governments of […]

खेती-बाड़ी का जो अर्थशास्त्र है उसे क्या देश के किसान, अर्थशास्त्री अशोक गुलाटी से बेहतर जानते-समझते हैं ? बात आपको अटपटी लगेगी और हास्यास्पद भी लेकिन इस प्रश्न का उत्तर है- हां! प्रोफेसर अशोक गुलाटी भारत के अग्रणी कृषि-अर्थशास्त्री हैं. वे उन विद्वानों में हैं जिनका लिखा मैं गौर से पढ़ता हूं, अक्सर सलाह-मशविरा करता हूं और जिनके लिए मेरे […]