-The Hindu While the UPA is showcasing cash transfers as a key initiative and has even made a provision for it in the National Food Security Bill (NFSB), there is a strong resistance to it. Major Opposition parties are moving amendments against cash transfers, food coupons and cash allowances in lieu of food even as the law is to come up for approval. So far, Delhi and Bihar are keen on providing cash...
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In Gujarat, the PDS is exclusionary & leaky-Rukmini S
-The Hindu Many States have been improving their Public Distribution System over the last five years On Tuesday, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh criticising the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) for not being expansive enough. What Mr. Modi omitted to mention is that the same complaint could be made of the existing Public Distribution System (PDS) in his own state. The most significant difference between the PDS...
More »Food Bill: some States lose, some gain -Gargi Parsai
-The Hindu Among the 18 States which stand to lose are Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi, Uttarakhand and some north-eastern States. Even as the National Food Security Bill is pending in Parliament, the Centre has conveyed to certain States that their foodgrain allocation would decline in spite of the mandatory 75 per cent rural and 50 per cent urban populations being covered under the proposed new law. Among the 18 States which...
More »Food security coverage not restricted to poor only: Government
-PTI NEW DELHI: The food security plan is not restricted to the poor alone as it will cover 67 per cent of the country's population, Planning Minister Rajeev Shukla said. Explaining the food security coverage, the Minister in a written reply informed Lok Sabha: "The government has decided to cover 67 per cent of the population under Food Security Act. The proposed coverage is not restricted to the poor only. "As per the...
More »When someone moves your cheese -Maja Daruwala and Venkatesh Nayak
-The Hindu Unlike many countries that have passed laws to protect citizens' privacy, the Indian state is collecting more and more information about private individuals under various pretexts and restricting their right to access their own information Does a serving employee of a premier intelligence agency have the right to inspect his own biodata which that agency handed over to another public authority? Then again, does a former employee of that agency...
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