With the number of non-governmental organisations growing in the country, the government is planning to bring them under a regulatory mechanism to make them accountable. As of now, there are no specific laws or regulations to regulate volunteerism in India. A task force, constituted to examine the issues related to the evolution of an independent, national level, self-regulatory agency for the voluntary organisations and develop accreditation methodologies by the Planning Commission,...

Some members of the National Advisory Council , or nac, are of the view that a small group in the council is driving its agenda to an extreme, making its recommendations vulnerable to government's rejection on the grounds of fiscal prudence. This not only ends wasting everyone's time, but also does a disservice to the poor and disadvantaged the council seeks to help, by indefinitely delaying progressive legislation, goes the...

The Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council (nac) has pinned its hopes on the new food minister, K.V. Thomas, to see its version of the food security bill past Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The nac’s perpetual grouse was that Thomas’ predecessor, Sharad Pawar, was not only indifferent but also opposed the idea of social inclusion in the food sector, and managed to convince the...

The Prime Minister-appointed Rangarajan Committee reviewing the draft food security bill has got its economics and logic wrong, a majority of members on the National Advisory Council has said as part of a draft report. Ready to take on the PMO, the council is nearing finalization of the report that will point out errors in the Rangarajan report and defend the nac's food security bill. The rebuttal is bound to...

Key issue will be legal guarantees for food entitlements for “general” category In what looks like more trouble for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (nac) has decided to take head on the Rangarajan committee's criticism of its now-controversial recommendations on food security. It will take the first step by presenting a point-by-point rebuttal of the panel's critique to the new Food Minister, K.V. Thomas, on...