Representatives of around 20 civil society organizations and NGOs met the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley as part of pre-budget consultation on social sector on 12 January, 2016. Immediately after the pre-budget consultation, a press conference was held by some of these organizations to convey the media persons what demands/ suggestions were made. Subrat Das, Executive Director of Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA, http://www.cbgaindia.org/) informed us that during...
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UP to roll out food security law on Jan 1 -Sumit Jha
-The Financial Express After two years of dithering, Uttar Pradesh is implementing the food security law from the New Year’s Day. After two years of dithering, Uttar Pradesh is implementing the food security law from the New Year’s Day. While 24 districts, mostly in western UP, will roll out the scheme on Friday, the remaining 51 districts will join the bandwagon on March 1. According to Sudhir Garg, principal secretary, Department of...
More »Digital India pays off for PDS -Sandip Das
-The Financial Express The perennial gap between allocation of grain meant for the public distribution system by the Food Corporation of India, the principal procurement agency, and the lifting of such grains The perennial gap between allocation of grain meant for the public distribution system by the Food Corporation of India, the principal procurement agency, and the lifting of such grains by the states has narrowed considerably in recent months, reports Sandip...
More »Govt. will continue Antyodaya scheme for the poorest of poor
In a recent Gazette notification, the Government of India has removed the controversial provisions made in the PDS Control Order that was issued in March, 2015. This means that no more there will be a ceiling placed on the number of Antyodaya cards issued by any state. The earlier order, which was issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on 20 March, 2015, says that "when...
More »Will the JAM Trinity Dismantle the PDS? -Silvia Masiero
-Economic and Political Weekly The platform known as the JAM Trinity (an acronym for Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and mobile numbers) may enable a shift from the current Public Distribution System, based on price subsidies, to the direct transfer of benefits. However, it is incorrect to argue that JAM technologies will necessarily lead to the demise of the PDS. State-level experiences of computerisation, recounted here, reveal that the same technologies can...
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