-Livemint.com A panel set up by PM Narendra Modi last month urged the govt to lower the number of beneficiaries to 40% from 67% New Delhi: India will not scale down its multi-billion dollar food welfare programme that promises ultra-cheap rice and wheat to most of its people despite a high-level recommendation, a top government source said on Wednesday. A panel set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month urged the...

-The Hindu The challenge for the Modi government is to evaluate what works in development programming before making large spending decisions Governments in India have always launched big-ticket social development programmes with ambitious goals. The Narendra Modi government is no exception. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims to make India open defecation-free by 2019. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana's financial inclusion programme set a target of opening 10 crore bank accounts by January...

-PTI MUMBAI: Facing criticism from its ally Shiv Sena over farmer suicides in the state's drought-hit regions, Maharashtra government has admitted that a lot more needs to be done to stop such incidents. The government is working towards increasing the agricultural productivity of farmers and some big measures will be announced in the state budget in their interest, state Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said. Please click here to read more. ...

-Livemint.com Experts say the panel's suggestions on public distribution system overlooked reforms undertaken by states New Delhi: The high-level committee on restructuring of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which suggested sweeping changes in the procurement and distribution of foodgrains, may have based its conclusions on inflated leakages in the public distribution system (PDS), experts say. The panel recommended that coverage under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) be reduced from 67%...

-The Hindu While liberalisation's backers are not squeamish in admitting that democracy is an impediment to the free market economic model, farmers who are dispossessed of land argue that they are undercompensated and that the profit of private companies is not a public purpose Since it was passed by Parliament in September 2013, the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (LARR) has been criticised from...