THE issue of foodgrain management policy has assumed renewed importance with several reports in the media of large-scale wastage and diversion from the public distribution system (PDS). In a cogently-argued paper recently, Prof Kaushik Basu, a well-known economist and the chief economic adviser in the ministry of finance, has argued for foodgrain to be released in lots of much smaller size into the market, than is presently done by the...

Although guardian minister of Gondia district Anil Deshmukh has given some valuable information regarding on line distribution of Public Distribution System (PDS) and biometric data system for employees in Gondia, most part of his press conference was dominated by allegations of rampart corruption prevailing in the district in various departments including village tanks, PDS and absence of employees from their seats in government offices. While speaking about the absence of the...

The Chhattisgarh model offers some key lessons on how to make the public distribution system deliverProbably the only thing extraordinary about Manglu is that he is the perfect example of an ordinary tribal. The 60-year-old belongs to the Pahadi Korba tribe and lives in Govindpur village of Sarguja district of Chhattisgarh. He best represents what modern India calls a below poverty line (BPL) beneficiary of various government schemes. Manglu earns...

Chief minister Arjun Munda is keen to replicate the efficiency of the public distribution system (PDS) in Chhattisgarh under fellow BJP leader Raman Singh, to ensure better delivery of foodgrains for Jharkhand’s below poverty line (BPL) families. Speaking exclusively to The Telegraph, Munda said food and civil supplies department principal secretary Rajbala Verma had recently visited Chhattisgarh to assess how the Raman Singh government had been smoothly doling out foodgrain to...

Differences between the National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, and the government over the food security Bill have begun to narrow, but a suggestion by the agriculture ministry to offer cash to poor consumers in case sufficient foodgrain isn’t available remains a contentious issue.“We do not have any serious objections to the recommendations of the NAC. But the ministry wants to have the provision for...