India, March 18 -- There is nothing new about rural distress. Be it the Congress-led UPA government or the BJP-led NDA government, one sector that has registered very low progress in terms of real-time wages during the last two decades is none other than the rural sector.
Political leaders have been using farmers as their vote-bank, applying bandages like an increase in minimum support price (MSP) or by announcing farm loan waivers, without any real concern for their problems. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), aimed at providing 100 days of employment, has also been gasping for breath.
A recent study published in a leading national daily revealed that rural wages for both the farm and the non-farm sector...