The mountainous state-owned food stocks lying in the open and rotting in the rain are in stark conflict with a failing public distribution system , hunger, malnutrition and high food prices. The poor management of food stocks provoked the Supreme Court to transgress into executive domain when, on August 12, the court made certain directions like limiting procurement to covered warehousing capacity and distributing the rotting foodgrains free of cost...

As the common man continues to reel under the spiraling rise in prices of essential commodities especially key food items and vegetables the forever-rising food inflation is posing a serious challenge to policy makers. Though top government officials, including the Finance Minister and the Chairman of the Planning Commission have repeatedly assured that the food prices will soon stop rising, in reality it has gone the other way.   The rising spree...

Output of major crops, including sugar, will be better or equal to 2008-09’s production figures, but food prices are unlikely to return to that year’s levels. Food inflation may have permanently changed to stay on the higher side, economists have said. For a UPA government battling high prices, this could be a gloomy piece of news. A surplus monsoon has boosted acreages of all crops, according to food ministry figures. Output of...

Inflation is in the news. Double-digit inflation persists, concentrated in prices of food and necessities. The retail prices of pulses are in the range of Rs 80-100 per kg. Seasonal vegetables retail at Rs 30-40 per kg. Yet, our pink newspapers believe there is little reason for concern. There is a boom in purchases of consumer durables. The middle class is prospering. The poor are better-off with the NREGA. And...

Owing to floods and incessant rains in northern India's Haryana, crops have been badly affected due to which the prices of the vegetables have gone up. Though the floods have receded in some parts of the area but large swathes of crops have been washed away. The wholesale rate for tomato has gone as high as Rs 40/kg, while the retail rate in some markets has reached Rs 60/kg. "Due to incessant rain...