The Planning Commission has expressed inability to provide funds for implementing the National Food security Act in the final lap of the Eleventh Five Year Plan, arguing that doing so would mean it will have to divert funds from existing schemes. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, in his presentation before the National Advisory Council (NAC) here on Friday, proposed the rollout of the scheme from the beginning of...

The National Advisory Council will meet on Friday again to discuss the National Food security Bill but the basic tablet of principles could be substantially changed with the Sonia Gandhi-led group taking a U-turn away from its earlier demand for universalisation of the public distribution system. The proposal supported by the Planning Commission, suggesting that the Tendulkar committee figures for those living below the poverty line be the cut off...

Trade unions and labour rights activists blame the high suicide rate in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, on the practices of the garment industry. TIRUPUR has carved out a niche for itself in the world of garments. Its phenomenal growth in the highly competitive global scenario, particularly in the past two decades, has been made possible by the entrepreneurial spirit of its manufacturers and exporters and the sweat and labour of thousands of...

The higher purchase price announced by the government has finally driven farmers to set aside more land for pulses this kharif, but experts doubt the approach can fill the increasing gap between demand and supply of this increasingly important source of protein for Indians. In the short-term though it could help reduce imports of pulses, running into thousands of crore every year. This year the acreage for pulses is pegged...

A pilot project on refining methods of counting the poor is attractive at a time when entitlement to welfare schemes is hotly debated Targeted approaches to delivering food and other goods often attract criticism from different quarters. Exclusion of deserving individuals and inclusion of those who are better off have marred programmes such as the Public Distribution System (PDS), so much so that universalization has been recommended as a panacea to...