Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee made sure to defer to the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council's priorities as he presented the Union budget for 2011-2012 on Monday. The Minister took care to mention that the Food Security Bill, the NAC's top priority, was almost ready and would be brought before Parliament later this year. He also took on board the NAC's concerns on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme...

Poor allocation of funds to key social sectors shows the government’s lacklustre approach to inclusive growth. We are reaching the end of a remarkable fiscal year,” said the finance minister as he rose to present the Union Budget 2011-12. Agreeing with the government that the year gone by presented us with several opportunities and challenges to address critical concerns pertaining to the social sector, the overall sense is that this Budget,...

The budget is a “mixed bag” for the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council, said members. It promises to bring in the National Food Security bill that the Congress chief hopes will signpost UPA-II’s continuing commitment to social and economic inclusion in the way that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act did UPA-I. But finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s restatement of the Centre’s position on indexing MNREGA wages to the consumer price...

The Sonia Gandhi-led national advisory council (NAC) has won decisive victories in keeping at bay the governments attempt to regulate right to information and ensuring the pro-tribal Forest Rights Act is made more effective for its intended beneficiaries. On the national Food Security Act -- the third bone of contention between the government and NAC -- the Council at its meeting on Saturday held its ground and advocated a staggered...

An aggressive National Advisory Council (NAC), emboldened by the recent appointment of a “friendly” Food Minister, took a formal decision on Saturday to finally go ahead with framing a food security Bill based on its own recommendations, though they were disfavoured by the Rangarajan panel, set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. While the Sonia Gandhi-led NAC wants 75 per cent of the population, divided into the priority and general categories,...