Tushar Kanti Das

Identification and evaluation of risk in agribusiness: an empirical study on vegetable sector in India

This study aims at evaluating the risk involved in agricultural business in India from farmer’s perspective. This study is carried out in Bargarh district of the state called Orissa located in eastern part of India. Agricultural diversification in the state of Orissa in general and Bargarh district in particular is highly intensified towards vegetables production which gives farmers better return on investment. But there are some serious risks involved in the business which affect the spirit of the farmers towards vegetable business. This paper tries to explore the perception of farmers towards the risk variables influencing vegetable production and marketing in the district of Bargarh. This study reveals five major risks in vegetable farming namely investment risk, socio-economic risks, environmental risk, production risk and marketing risk. These risks make the propositions more complex as perceived by the farmers. This study recommends risk management strategies such as future contracting, crop insurance, contract farming, etc. if implemented properly may mitigate the above-said risks and bring efficiency in the system. The empirical findings may be useful for the stake holders involved in agricultural business.

Methods of Impact Evaluation: A Review

Government along with non-government organisations initiates various development programmes for the different strata of the society. The extent of those programmes is known after the evaluation only. Impact evaluation provides the causal effect of a programme on the outcome. Measurement of impact of any developmental programme is a difficult task. This paper provides a systematic review on various quantitative methods available for impact evaluation and suggests the use of combination of methods for enhancing the robustness of the impact.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as Social Safety Net: Analysis of Public Works in Odisha, India

Abstract Social safety nets are transfers targeted to the poor or vulnerable. They facilitate access to health and education services to build human capital. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (earlier known as Millennium Development Goals), national and state governments as well as international organisations have focused on increasing the investments in social transfer programmes. Public works are the policy instruments for mitigating the negative effects of climatic and systematic risks on poor farmers and unskilled and semi-skilled workers. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is the largest social protection programme in the world that provides 100 days of unskilled wage employment to any household residing in rural areas whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. In the state of Odisha the MGNREGA scheme is widely implemented. However, the irregularities involved in the implementation of this social protection programme are of great concern. The present study focuses on the implementation of MGNREGA in three districts of western Odisha. The study has tried to identify the bottleneck in the success of MGNREGA scheme.

Government revenues of Orissa: an analysis

Macroeconomic stability is an indispensable precondition for growth. Like most of the states of India the fiscal situation of Orissa deteriorated in the early 1980s and 1990s. The enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act in 2005 helped the Government of Orissa to reduce deficits and generate surplus. However, these surpluses were maintained till 2008-2009. The planners should now identify the avenues of revenue to sustain this surplus over the years.

Financial Inclusion and Regulation in India

Policies to encourage increased access for the previously unbanked must be taken into consideration in the objectives of financial stability. The progress towards inclusiveness is more difficult to assess, because inclusiveness is a multidimensional concept. To achieve inclusiveness in all these dimensions requires multiple interventions. The success depends not only on introducing new policies and government programmes, but on institutional and attitudinal changes brought about, which take time. With appropriate policy changes the financial sector has the capability to grow tremendously having an enormous multiplier effect on inclusion and economic growth. While regulating the financial market, one should look into the constraints as well as the opportunities for financial inclusion. The policy makers should look into supply side issues of financial inclusion and what can be done to enhance the supply of financial services along with the demand side causes and solutions for financial inclusion. A step in the direction of financial inclusion may offer empowerment with entitlement, security and opportunity to millions of poor in India. The objectives of the study are twofold. First one is to analyse the development of financial inclusion by looking at the stakeholder interests, incentives, institutions and opportunities. Second, is to illustrate ‘what works, why and how’ for a better understanding of financial inclusion and the design and regulation of financial sector.

India: Growth Sans Development

The pursuit of economic growth has been the single most important policy goal across the world for the last five decades. The default assumption is that – financial crisis aside – growth will continue indefinitely. Not just for the poorest countries, where a better quality of life is undeniably needed between for the richest nations where the excess of material wealth adds little to happiness and is beginning to threaten the foundations of our well being. The myth of growth has failed us. It has failed the two billion people who still live on less than

Political Economy of Power Sector Restructuring in Orissa

2 a day. It has failed, spectacularly, in its own terms to provide economic stability and secure people’s livelihoods. India has come a long way in terms of economic growth. Softer indicators – aspirations, health and literacy – are all registering distinct improvements. Spending power opportunities and splurging propensity have been shooting up. Poverty ratios have gone down, the per capita income is growing, the economy is expanding at a fast pace. Poverty ratios have gone down not the number of poor. Poor still remain vulnerable largely unprotected – socially, economically or legally. The shift to inclusive growth as a policy discourse is of recent vintage. This shift marks a broadening of concerns about inequality. The focus has been on how the excluded group can participate in aggregate growth. This takes policy discussions to the domains of education, health, basic infrastructure, agricultural productivity basic urban services and so on. Without addressing those issues India’s longer term development prospects would be in threat. Structural inequalities in India are not only deep and persistent, they are also intimately linked with institutional structures in the political, social and economic domains – and they are likely to impede the transformations necessary for long term growth.

Fiscal Responsibilities of Indian States

Orissa is the first State in the Country to have undertaken restructuring and reform in power sector. This was made to make power supply more efficient and to be able to meet the investment needs of the sector. Disinvestment in power sector is a major step in the power sector reform initiative which is now being replicated in other States of the Country. The sector restructure adopted in Orissa is based on a single buyer model. Reform in Orissa continues to focus on non competitive solutions, to protect the cross-subsidies necessary to ensure the viability of the industry. Orissas experience has shown that price setting can be undertaken by an independent regulator.

Including Agriculture in Sustaining Economic Growth of India

Indias fiscal problem has deep roots in its federal fiscal system where multiple players face the problem of co-ordination. The root causes of the endemic fiscal crisis by both centre and states are to be found in the simultaneous pursuit of fiscal objectives and policies which are in themselves incompatible. The effect need to achieve fiscal consolidation must be seen as the joint responsibility of the central and state governments. To achieve vertical and horizontal balance, both the centre and the states need to raise the levels of resources relative to their respective revenue bases, exercise restraint in undertaking unwarranted expenditure commitments.