Can Producer Associations Improve Rural Livelihoods? Evidence from Farmer Centres in India

Abstract

Rural producer associations are considered a potential community-driven solution to the problems of smallholder agriculture. This article evaluates the impact of organising female farmers into producer associations in Gujarat, India. The initiative provided training, information, access to inputs, risk mitigation, and market linkages. Over 18 months, the programme weakly increased members’ non-farm income and access to output markets. It had stronger impacts on members’ awareness and utilisation of financial services. Impacts were heterogeneous, varying by pre-existing socioeconomic conditions. These findings suggest that producer associations can lower transaction costs for smallholders, but that poverty alleviation may be a longer-term prospect.     

Revisiting Kartar Singh v State of Punjab: Procedural exceptions and fair trial in anti-terror laws

India’s lineage of anti-terror laws—TADA, POTA, and UAPA—create wide exceptions to cardinal principles of fair trial recognised under common law, statute, and the Constitution. These were enacted as exceptional legislations to deal with national security concerns, thus justifying enhanced legal powers of coercion over investigation and prosecution. The source of these extraordinary powers is not the Emergency Provisions under Part XVIII of the Constitution, or preventive detention under Article 22, but reasonable restrictions under Articles 19(2) and (4). Without constitutional and legislative safeguards, UAPA permanently entrenches coercive State power. Unless expressly repealed by Parliament or struck down by judicial review, non-derogable Article 21 guarantees and democratic opposition remain at present the best defence of liberty. As established constitutional and statutory principles of fair trial stand abrogated in anti-terror laws, how may judges protect due process under special procedures? How may the accused effectively defend their liberty? And as members of the democratic republic, how may we evaluate whether the criminal justice system is fairly administering justice in practice? To answer these questions, this article turns to Kartar Singh v State of Punjab, one of the first Supreme Court decisions to consider the constitutionality of procedural exceptions under TADA. The article proposes an alternative orientation of the principles of fair trial, towards a theory that is rooted in separation of powers and frameworks of checks and balances within procedural law. The first section describes the right to fair trial, its relationship with ordinary procedures, and derogation under special procedures. The second section identifies a theory of fair trial through an analysis of Ramaswamy J’s dissent under Kartar Singh. The final section follows the ramifications of this theory for contemporary bail jurisprudence under UAPA.

     

Armenia-India partnership: geopolitical and geo-economic implications in the Eurasian context

Asia Europe Journal - In the twenty-first century, changing global power equations are impacting the dynamics of foreign and security policy choices of small states, as they seek to develop...     

Gorbachev's Economic Reform: A Soviet Economy Roundtable

The proceedings of a panel of American specialists devoted to the recent economic reform are summarized. The panelists noted that the most substantial changes to date have accompanied efforts to restructure the decisionmaking hierarchy—in particular, a recentralization of authority through the creation of biuros and state committees and legislation on individual economic activity. Changes in the systems of economic planning and incentives, on the other hand, have been minor, suggesting a continuing debate over the extent to which price reform and various economic incentives should be implemented. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 113, 124.