-The Economic Times   The much-awaited Food Security Bill, which is being vetted by Parliamentary Standing Committee, may see some changes before being cleared. "The committee may go for universalising the distribution of grains to cover wider range of population," ministry sources said. According to the original bill, the government is planning to make foodgrain available at low prices only to 'certain' targeted sections, that is, the below-poverty line population dividing the...

Indian agriculture can be transformed into a healthy and vibrant system, where farmers’ suicides are relegated to history. As we enter 2010, the script for a futuristic agriculture which brings back the smile on the face of the Indian farmer, without leaving any scar on the environment, is being rewritten. What began as a small initiative some six years back in a non-descript village in Khamam district, has now spread to over...

As the government aims to cut subsidies to less than two per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012-13 and 1.75 per cent over the next three years, several analysts believe the subsidy amount on the proposed food security law may not allow it to come into effect or be contained. Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen tells Dilasha Seth various subsidy figures on food security quoted by the...

-Economic and Political Weekly Yojana Bhavan never seems to know how to count India’s Poor That the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government can on occasion after occasion mishandle a situation and also show insensitivity has been in evidence once again in its handling of the poverty figures estimated from the 66th (2009-10) round of the National Sample Survey (NSS). Although the Planning Commission’s estimates, as measured by the Tendulkar methodology, declined sharply...

It would be great if the enthusiasm on the financial inclusion agenda gets a pause from the frantic do-gooders . Too many people appear to be enthusiastic about serving the Poor - and the kindness is killing. Back in 1956, we discovered that cooperatives were a great instrument to reach out to the Poor. These were peoples' institutions, local and would be responsive to the problems of their members. A set of...