-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: Gujarat today figures among the few states in the country with high malnutrition rates among it's children and low immunity levels in its general population. Agricultural scientists and nutrition experts in the country have suggested how effective millet management in public distribution system (PDS) and mid-day meal schemes was the key to ensure nutrition security for small farmers and marginal tribal communities. However, in Gujarat millet...

-The Times of India It was in 2012 that the Centre first promised to provide free drugs in public health facilities. The first budgetary provision was made in 2013. Last year, the promise was crystallized to providing 348 essential drugs free. This was later whittled down to just 50 drugs. And now, the entire idea of a central scheme for free drug distribution has been given a quiet burial. Joint secretary (policy)...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The state government has opposed the Shanta Kumar Committee's recommendation for direct cash transfer through the public distribution system (PDS) instead of subsidised food grain supply to the beneficiaries. Officially, the state's opposition is based on the argument that cash transfer would affect farmers, as procurement from them would stop. However, sources said the state was worried about the move's fallout on its scheme providing rice to the poor...

-The Hindu NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya says farmers can't be fully compensated for crop damage. The Union government will increase the number of work days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme from 100 to 150 in places where the recent unseasonal rain and hailstorms have affected crops. The relief package will include cash compensation. In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought recommendations from NITI Aayog on how insurance...

-Frontline   The BJP-led NDA government has, in the two Budgets it has presented so far, revealed itself to be very different from the pro-farmer image that its leading election campaigner and now Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, projected. THE Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha election states: "Agriculture is the engine of India's economic growth and the largest employer, and BJP commits highest priority to agriculture growth, increases in...