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...
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Fertilizer subsidy: what is good for the farmer and the farm? by Raghuvansh Prasad Singh
Is the chemical fertilizer-based food production system sustainable? As a result, what happens to the soil and the larger issue of food security? After a raging debate, the government finally decided to hike the chemical fertilizer subsidy, to catch up with spiralling fertilizer prices in the global market. Also, there is talk about bringing urea under the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) system and decontrolling its prices. Obviously, the fertilizer industry...
More »With bananas, NREGA to ‘bear fruit’ at last by Surbhi Khyati
To invest the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) funds in a “fruitful” way, the state’s Department of Rural Development has decided to create a banana plantation over 1 lakh acres. The project will take off in July and will benefit around 1.5 lakh farmers, said Manoj Kumar Singh, the state’s Secretary of Rural Development and Horticulture and Food Processing. Singh was the Chief Guest of a “Mango Gosthi and...
More »MPs question Nilekani over UID pitfalls
The possibility of the voluntary nature of the unique identity number project becoming virtually a compulsion in the light of entitlements being linked to the scheme saw members of a parliamentary panel quiz UID chief Nandan Nilekani about its pitfalls. At a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee on Friday, MPs told Nilekani that despite his claims that the UID is merely a number — not indicative of citizenship, caste or...
More »Ashok Gulati to head Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices by Prabha Jagannathan
Ashok Gulati, Director in Asia for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), was appointed Chairman of the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices for the Ministry of Agriculture , Government of India. Based in New Delhi, he will be involved in developing appropriate price policy and marketing structures for major agricultural commodities in the country. Gulati’s appointment begins on March 1. Bart Minten will be acting director of the New...
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