Maharashtra’s image as a progressive state has taken a beating with recent figures rating it third amongst major states, after Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as regards the population below poverty line. An economic survey released by the state government said the poverty estimates provided by the Planning Commission reveal poverty ratio in the state is 30.7%, 3.2% more than the all-India (27.5%) figure. “Maharashtra had 3.17 crore persons below poverty line after...
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Call for Bill that provides for universal PDS coverage by Gargi Parsai
Members of the Right to Food Campaign on Monday “rejected'' the proposed draft of the National Food Security Bill that promises 25 kg. of food grains to each Below Poverty line population family a month at Rs. 3 a kg and urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to come up with a bill that covers every adult resident of the country under the Public Distribution System (PDS). “Nothing short of a universal...
More »In defence of PDS
The central vigilance committee led by retired Justice D. P. Wadhwa, which was established by the Supreme Court of India to monitor its orders in the PIL on the right to food, has come out with a strong indictment of the public distribution system (PDS). Based on State-level reports for Delhi, Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Karnataka, the committee has identified widespread corruption at different levels of the...
More »LPG dealership scheme to empower rural women by Sujay Mehdudia
Even as acrimony continues to haunt the status of the Women's Reservation Bill, the Petroleum Ministry has gone ahead with its own scheme of things to “empower” rural Indian women making it mandatory for 50 per cent ownership by women of cooking gas dealerships under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitrak Yojana. The government is also considering sops to the Below Poverty Line population to encourage it to use the eco-friendly...
More »National Food Security Bill to be vetted by Law Ministry by Gargi Parsai
The Empowered Group of Ministers that met here on Thursday has advised the Union Food Ministry to get the National Food Security Bill vetted by the Law Ministry before placing it in the Union Cabinet for approval. The proposed Bill envisages provision of 25 kg. of wheat or rice to BPL families at Rs. 3 per kg per month. However, despite burgeoning wheat stocks, the EGoM chaired by Union Finance Minister...
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