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Purpose: Credit is an essential element in the production process in agriculture. There are two sources from which farm households can access credit: institutional sources and non-institutional or informal sources of credit. The informal sources of credit, such as moneylenders, charge exorbitant rates of interest, which further puts a financial burden on the farmers. Hence, to increase the flow of credit from institutional sources, a policy known as the interest subvention scheme (ISS) was introduced in the year 2006. This paper aims to find the effect of the ISS on the behaviour of farm households. Design/methodology/approach: The author has used difference-in-difference analysis for estimation. In the analysis, the author has taken Madhya Pradesh as the treatment state and Andhra Pradesh as the controlled state. The author has used the Village Dynamics in South Asia (VDSA) dataset of ICRISAT for analysis. The author has used data from 2009 to 2014 for the two states. Findings: The author has found that the difference between the average interest rate of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh is significant for both pre-treatment and post-treatment periods and this gap has increased after the intervention period. The results suggest that the share of informal sector borrowings has reduced in the treatment group (Madhya Pradesh) as compared to the control group (Andhra Pradesh) in the post-treatment period. Originality/value: This paper is particularly important because of the dearth of literature on the impact of this scheme in India and may shed light on the much-needed policy implications of this particular policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women workers continue in the beedi industry due to the unavailability of alternative livelihoods though they are vulnerable and exploited. This remains a poorly understood field of research due to the unavailability of reliable data, which is an obstacle to the effective implementation of various policies and schemes. Even, the number of beedi worker reported by the Ministry of Labour and Employment contains significant discrepancies. These data show that the registered beedi workers have increased in India with a significant decline in the Southern States in the last two decades. We estimate the women beedi employees at the state and district levels and also assess their socio-economic status. We find that the number of women beedi workers in the registered firms has increased in India including the Southern States, and about 80% of beedi workers are women and mainly living in the rural areas. Further, we find that while West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka have the highest number of beedi workers, the highest share of women in the total beedi workforce is found in Andhra Pradesh (95%), Karnataka (91%), and Tamil Nadu (84%). The majority of women beedi workers are illiterate with a lower wage than men's. The minority mainly Christian followers are significant compared to their population share, and the OBC category is significant among the women beedi workers. More than 90% of the women beedi rollers do not have written job contracts and are not eligible for paid leaves or social security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need for effective electronic waste (e-waste) management practices has received wide attention due to increased societal awareness; however, the existence of challenges adds difficulties. This study identifies these critical e-waste management challenges through extensive literature reviews and targeted interaction with e-waste recycling units, and our work suggests strategies for e-waste mitigation. Then, an integrated framework of four methods — Fermatean fuzzy set (FFS), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL), and Technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) – calculates the weightage of the challenges, depicts causal interrelationships among the challenges, and ranks the mitigation strategies. For India, the top five most critical challenges to e-waste management practices include the booming informal sector, illegal import of e-waste, lack of technical expertise, absence of guidelines for e-waste recycling, and lack of data inventory. India's governmental establishment of an infrastructure for modern e-waste management represents the best potential strategy. Understanding the causal interrelationship and weightage of the challenges may help policymakers, industrial practitioners, and government agencies streamline e-waste management activities. • This study analyzes the e-waste mitigation strategies by taking into account the challenges involved. • An integrated MCDM approach consisting of FFS - AHP - DEMATEL – TOPSIS is used in this study. • E-waste recycling facility centers located in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh are considered for the case study. • Establishment of infrastructure for modern e-waste management is the most potential e-waste management strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]