THE NATIONAL Advisory Council ( NAC) headed by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has scored its first victory — a change in the proposed Food Security Bill that raises the monthly allocation of foodgrains to the poor from 25 kg to 35 kg at Rs 3 a kilo. The draft Bill, approved by the empowered group of ministers ( EGoM) recently, had offered 25 kg of foodgrains to those below the poverty...

The poor utilization of funds meant for rural development continues unabated in Orissa, especially in the backward districts of the state. The pointer to this fact is the gross under-utilization of the funds under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) in Kalahandi, one of the poorest districts in the state and the country. Out of the total available fund of Rs 56.6 crore for the district under MG-NREGA including the...

With the proposed food security law likely to get a momentum after the formal constitution of the National Advisory Council (NAC), under the chairmanship of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Rural Development Ministry has also decided to speed up the process for identification of rural below poverty line (BPL) families. In this context, the ministry has decided to conduct pilot studies across the country for fine tuning the parameters required...

Parinathi, a Non Government Organisation is bringing smiles on the faces of farmers in 5 GPs of Kadur taluk by providing technical assistance.    It has been taking up watershed works, promoting organic farming and self-employment to economically backward families for the last 2 years. The organisation will work for the implementation of various projects worth Rs 80 lakh under the Watershed Development Fund of NABARD in the last four years. Schemes...

The National Food Security Bill, 2010 that aims to provide subsidised foodgrain to the very poor is welcome, but its definition of ‘food security’ is too narrow. The Rome declaration on World Food Security (at the World Food Summit in 1996) states that “we, the heads of state and government ... reaffirm the right of everyone to have (physical and economic) access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with the...