The flawed Bill on food security has not received the kind of publicity that the Lokpal Bill has, but that does not diminish its significance. “THIS government has divided everything and everyone. There are different cards for different sections of the poor. If my employer, taking pity on me, gives me an old television, I am not entitled to a yellow card [Below Poverty Line card]. My son who is...

State links PDS to uid to plug leakages in food supplies but gaps remain Madhya Pradesh has opted for the technologically most sophisticated—and costliest—method for revamping its public distribution system (PDS). It is one of a handful of states that is trying to ensure that subsidised food reaches the segment it is meant for, the poorest of the population or those below the poverty line (BPL). But the route it has...

-Live Mint   A cabinet committee had allowed the Unique Identification Authority of India (uidAI), the nodal agency for the Aadhaar project, to collect biometric data until the National Population Register (NPR) rolls out, Union home minister P. Chidambaram said on Thursday. Chidambaram’s statement follows media reports that Aadhaar and NPR projects are duplicating each other’s work and wasting public money. “uid was authorized to collect the biometric details for a limited period until...

-The Hindustan Times   The home ministry has raised concerns that a fresh proposal of the Unique Identification Authority of India (uidAI) to independently collect biometric details could lead to duplication of effort and lead to wastage of public funds. The Cabinet had earlier mandated the census commissioner to create the national population register (NPR), a biometrics-based identity system. This required the census commissioner to create a data-base of all residents through door-to-door...

-IANS   The Lokpal bill which is before parliament is only one of the many ways of tackling the menace of corruption, said Nandan Nilekani, chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India (uidAI) Friday. 'I think if we want to do something about corruption, we have to do it in a much broader manner, where the Lokpal bill just becomes one of many things (tackling corruption),' said Nilekani in an interview to...