-The Indian Express New Delhi: The distribution of foodgrain under the Food Security Programme formally began in Delhi on Sunday with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit handing over subsidised foodgrain to women heads of eligible families. All the areas where Dikshit distributed foodgrain fall under the New Delhi constituency, which she represents. The scheme was launched in the city on August 20 by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. At the launch, Dikshit had said...

-Down to Earth The most controversial aspect of the food security law is the restructuring of the public distribution system to cover an unprecedented 67 per cent of the population, most of them in the poorer states. LATHA JISHNU, JYOTIKA SOOD and SUCHITRA M explain why there are winners and losers in the new dispensation and how states with better PDS will have to find huge resources to keep their numbers...

-The Hindu Acting on Sonia's recommendations, government to bring in key official amendments to Food Security Bill The government has decided to bring in key amendments to the National Food Security Bill, removing provisions for cash transfer and role of contractors and manufacturers in the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). The decision, which came on the recommendation of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, found support from the Opposition. The move comes even as the...

-The Hindu R.P. Gupta, Principal Secretary to Government of Gujarat, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, writes: "In Gujarat, PDS is exclusionary, leaky, getting worse" (August 17), your Correspondent Rukmini S., mainly focuses on the alleged weakness of the Gujarat Public Distribution System based on old data. It is clear that she has not countered any of the points raised by the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The article mentions some analysis of...

-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...