-Express News Service The government will introduce the Citizens’ Charter Bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said on Monday. Once introduced, the legislation, called The Right of Citizens for Time-Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Their Redressal, will be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee. The move for a separate Bill dealing with the issues covered under the Citizens’ Charter of Team Anna had been...

-The Indian Express The Congress’s long-deferred promise, the food security bill, has been cleared by the cabinet and will now be debated and refined in Parliament. For all its formidable complexity, the draft bill is evasive on some of the fundamentals, like exactly who will be served by the subsidy. Though it has moved away from a narrowly targeted, tightly rationed approach and now intends to make cheap foodgrain readily available to...

-PTI Strongly opposing the draft National food security bill, Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa today said it was replete with "confusion and inaccuracy" and asked the Centre not to attempt encroaching into the domains of states. In a strongly-worded letter to PM Manmohan Singh, she said the Central government "should not attempt or be seen to attempt encroaching into the domains of the states" and sought exemption of Tamil Nadu from...

-IANS The food security bill, that seeks to legally entitle majority of India's population to cheaper foodgrains, is not sustainable as it would put further pressure on fiscal deficit and worsen inflation, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) official said on Tuesday. "While the purpose of ensuring food security to the poor is laudable, the food security bill is not the right mechanism for it," said Biswa Nath Bhattacharyay, lead professional, Asian Development...

-PTI   National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) today said it has earmarked Rs 2,000 crore for building warehouses which will help in facilitating distribution of foodgrain to poor under the proposed Food Security Act. "Under RIDF ( Rural Infrastructure Development Fund), we have proposed to provide funds to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore exclusively for construction of scientific godowns across the country in this fiscal," NABARD Executive Director S...