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Agricultural credit is the most significant factor in the Indian agricultural sector. The paper discusses the access of institutional credit to agriculture, and helps understand the challenges faced by the tribal farmers to obtain agricultural credit, and the determinants of institutional agricultural credit at households' (HHs) level in the backward region of Odi:sha. The study used primary data collected from 475 farm tribal HHs of Kalahandi, Bolangiri and Koraput (KBK) districts in Odisha. The study found that increasing agricultural credit is greater in indirect finance than direct finance; in the same manner, a greater amount of credit is disbursed for the short term than the long term. Collateral issues, less awareness due to less education among farmers, low density of financial institutions in village areas, lack of finance as per demand, diversifying the loans from productive purpose to consumption purpose, and non-repayment of loan due to crop loss are different constraints faced by the farmers in Odisha.

"This book critically studies descriptive, normative and ethical aspects of violence to understand the Maoist conflict in India. It studies important but often overlooked issues such as reasons for youth participation in insurgency, the reality and the rhetoric of the urban Maoism debate, rights and entitlements of the local communities and their interactions with the Maoist conflict, and issues of governance and development. The volume, examines the origins of Maoist insurgency, why it continues, the factions, counterinsurgency, impact of violence on education and other development indicator; investigates how a conflict with an alternative idea of democracy violently clashes with an established democratic Indian state; deals with the critical aspects of the Maoist movement in India and the status of Urban Maoism or Urban Naxal; evaluates state responses to the movement and its impact on the economic status of affected communities; discusses the gender dimension of armed conflict through a feminist lens and explores how women navigate through varied socio-cultural and gender norms while participating in the conflict. Studying a wide range of critical issues, this volume will be of interest particularly to scholars of political science, development studies, public administration, security studies, peace and conflict studies and human rights"--

Agriculture has been brought to the forefront of policymaking, parliamentary debate, and political discussions in recent history. India's Parliament recently voted to scrap agricultural reform laws which came up as a huge victory for the farmers' movement, who have been protesting for over a year for the rollback of the laws. This farmers' movement created history at the national and international levels in the present times. The government had passed three farm laws to transform agriculture and increase farmer income without detailed consultations with all stakeholders. This led to protests by the farmer community by blocking roads and highways, calling an All-India Bandh, which attracted public attention and brought weight to the farmer issues, leading to achievement for the 'Annadatas' of the country. The article discusses the predicaments of the agriculture sector, the problems of the farmers, critical analysis of the three Farm laws, their implementation, implications and finally, its rollback. The reasons for this move have been examined from the political and economic angle with a reflection on its rollback for the future. JEL Codes: Q18, Q10, Q13, Q15

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992 provided the Constitutional machinery for rural governance in India, whereas the tribal-dominated states under 5th and 6th schedules of the Constitution were allowed either to introduce Panchayati Raj Institutions or to continue with their traditional self-government institutions. In conformity with Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992, the state of Tripura passed the Tripura Panchayat Act in 1993 and established a three-tier structure with the Gram Panchayat as the lowest tier, the Panchayat Samitis at the block level and Zilla Parshad at the district level. Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) was set up in 1985 under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution with aims to protect the social, economic and cultural interests of the tribal population and to promote the all-round socio-economic development of the territory covered by the TTAADC. Like the three-tier system in Panchayati Raj Institutions, TTAADC has a similar structure like District Council at district level, Block Advisory Council at block level and Village Council at village level. The present article assesses the similarities and differences in the functioning of these two systems in the state of Tripura. The article is based on both primary and secondary data. The qualitative and quantitative data were collected through structured schedule from different stakeholders and Focus Group Discussions from the village-level respondents.