-The Hindu Faced with strong reactions to its affidavit on the poverty line estimates filed in the Supreme Court on Monday, the Planning Commission may re-visit the issue and, if necessary, file an amendment in the court. Sources in the Commission indicated that another committee of experts was likely to be set up to dispel the “confusion” and arrive at a more realistic estimate of poverty numbers that were “multi-dimensional” and to...
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Sonia’s dream Food Security Bill out on the internet by Iftikhar Gilani
The draft of National Food Security Bill has been uploaded on the internet. Congress President Sonia Gandhi's illness had derailed the grand launch of her dream project during the Parliament's monsoon session. The draft appears on the website of the Department of Food and Public Distribution, inviting the public for its comments and suggestions by September end. Gandhi is believed to have pulled up Food Minister KV Thomas for not tabling...
More »Land rush and sustainable food security by MS Swaminathan
Managing our soil and water resources in a sustainable and equitable manner needs a new political vision, which can be expressed through the proposed Land Acquisition Bill and the recently formed Global Soil Partnership. On the basis of a proposal I had made three years ago, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) launched a Global Soil Partnership for Food Security and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at a multi-stakeholder conference, held...
More »Land Bill will hit dryland farmers, says VJAS by Ramu Bhagwat
Vidarbha Civil Society Collective and Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) have raised strong objections to provisions in the National Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill 2011 tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. They demanded that the Bill be redrafted to safeguard interests of the dryland farmers and other landowners. "The Bill has ignored all suggestions made by the civil society and farmer advocacy groups. A month ago the rural development minister Jairam...
More »Dividing the poor by TK Rajalakshmi
The flawed Bill on food security has not received the kind of publicity that the Lokpal Bill has, but that does not diminish its significance. “THIS government has divided everything and everyone. There are different cards for different sections of the poor. If my employer, taking pity on me, gives me an old television, I am not entitled to a yellow card [Below Poverty Line card]. My son who is...
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