To ensure transparency in delivery of commodities to the poor in Rajasthan The Rajasthan Government has decided to conduct the much sought-after social audit for fair price shops functioning under the public distribution system (PDS) to ensure transparency and effectiveness in the delivery of essential commodities to poor people. The move follows the success of similar exercise for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The social audit is being introduced...

-The Times of India   The state government on Wednesday came out with a new public distribution system for the people of Jangalmahal. After holding a meeting with food minister Jyotipriya Mullick, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that a decision has been taken to provide rice at Rs 2 a kg to all communities in Jangalmahal. "There are many people in Jangalmahal who don't get proper food. Previously, those belonging to...

-The Economic Times   Dear Smt Gandhi, We, a group of academic economists, are writing to you about the proposed National Food Security (NFS) Act legislation that is of profound importance to India's economy. We believe that it is appropriate that India pursues the goal of genuine food security for all through a law that guarantees a minimum transfer to every adult except a small subset of the most affluent who...

-The Hindu   Human rights activist Binayak Sen said here on Monday that there was no question of his being a Naxal sympathiser. “Neither am I a Naxal sympathiser nor [an] opposer of Naxals,” Dr. Sen told journalists at the Press Club. “I believe that violence, either of the state or the non-state actors, does not cure any problem,” he said. Launching a scathing attack on Salwa Judum, he said that it...

The current perception that cash transfers can replace public provision of basic goods and services and become a catch-all solution for poverty reduction is false. Where cash transfers have helped to reduce poverty, they have added to public provision, not replaced it. For crucial items like food, direct provision protects poor consumers from rising prices and is part of a broader strategy to ensure domestic supply. Problems like targeting errors...