-PTI   Paddy MSP of Grade 'A' variety has been raised by Rs 55 to Rs 1,400 a quintal The government today announced Rs 50 per quintal increase in the minimum support price of paddy to Rs 1,360 to encourage farmers to cultivate rice, but said that the decision will not have an impact on inflation. Minimum support price (MSP) of pulses has been raised by up to Rs 100 per quintal. The Cabinet Committee...

-The Business Standard   Seize the chance to improve the food security Act Now that the National Food Security Act is set to be amended to give states more time to implement the legislation, several of its flaws should be re-examined and the Act suitably amended. The immediate need for an amendment arose because the deadline of a year for its enforcement in all states (that is, by July 5, 2014) was, oddly,...

-The Business Standard   The government needs counter cyclical policies to tackle vegflation, which has become a recurrent problem Somebody help. Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley are held hostage, not by jihadists, recalcitrant opposition, international capital or the ever-erratic monsoon, but by faceless, nameless manipulators of Nasik, Navi Mumbai and Azadpur markets. The "raw" terror they have let loose resounds in the corridors of government as well as media power. Cutting to the chase,...

-The Citizen.in This piece is a rejoinder to an article by D K Joshi, which appeared in ‘The Indian Express' on June 4, 2014. The main arguments made by the author are neither new nor unique. Many neoliberal economists, including some occupying crucial policy-making positions have been making arguments which propose dilution of Minimum Support Price (MSP) policies to take care of excess food stocks with the government and also control...

-The Business Standard   A totally novel method needed to procure and disburse food Unbundling the Food Corporation of India (FCI) by hiving it into three separate entities for procurement, storage and distribution of foodgrain seems prima facie an unsound proposition. It would lead to a multiplicity of food handling agencies; the proliferation of bureaucracy would cause procedural delays and poor coordination. Administrative expenses, which are already high and bloating the food subsidy...