-IANS Food minister KV Thomas on Wednesday said the Union government was committed to ensuring food security of the people, particularly the vulnerable sections. He said the proposed food security bill aimed to give legal rights to cheaper foodgrains to 63.5% of the population. Around 180 million households -- 65 million below poverty line (BPL) and 115 million above poverty line (APL) category families -- get subsidised rations under the Public Distribution System through...
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National Food Security Bill marks a paradigm shift to ensure food for all, claims Thomas
-ANI Food Minister K.V. Thomas on Wednesday said that the proposed National Food Security Bill marks a paradigm shift in addressing the problem of food security - from it being viewed as a welfare approach to a right-based approach. Launching the bulletin on food justice in India brought out by the Oxfam India, the institute of development studies and the centre for legislative research and advocacy here, Thomas said: "The Act seeks...
More »For the UIDAI, not a sedate summer-Devjyot Ghoshal
It is a manifestation of the Indian summer — the electricity goes out momentarily at the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) head office just before an interview with the director general and mission director, Ram Sewak Sharma. Despite glitches, mostly more consequential than power outages, Sharma reveals that it has been a busy few months for the UIDAI, after it reached the mandated number of 200 million enrolments by March...
More »Sowing gets boost as monsoon covers central, northwest India
-The Economic Times The monsoon has covered the key farming regions of central and northwestern parts of the country, giving a boost to sowing. However, the coarse grainproducing areas of western Rajasthan and Gujarat are yet to get any rain spell. "The monsoon is progressing well. There are chances that rains will be good in July, allaying fears of a major crop loss. The July rain this time is likely to be...
More »Aadhaar and MGNREGA are made for each other-Neelakshi Mann, Varad Pande and Jairam Ramesh
-The Hindu A definite acknowledgement of the potential of Aadhar for public service delivery, and especially for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) by Bharat Bhatti, Jean Drèze, and Reetika Khera in their article “Experiments with Aadhaar” (editorial page, The Hindu, June 27, 2012), is a small step for Aadhaar, but a giant leap for the authors! Process re-engineering in government is never easy, there is enormous resistance both...
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