Flaws In The PDS… Poor verification norms, over two crore bogus BPL cards Over 1.2 crore BPL families don’t have a ration card No monitoring, resulting in pilferage, gaps in delivery, poor quality foodgrains Poor profit margins a major cause for corruption Lack of information hinders benefits from reaching the poor …and the Solutions Base fair price shops on new business model The Centre takes ‘responsibility’ for delivery in states Make verification...
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Right to health law in Assam
Assam today became the first state in the country to enact a legislation that seeks to ensure right to health for every citizen. The Assam Public Health Bill, 2010, which was unanimously passed in the Assembly today, makes it mandatory for all hospitals, both government and private, including nursing homes to provide free health care services, maintaining appropriate protocol of treatment, for the first 24 hours to an emergency patient. During...
More »Court orders NCPCR to probe trafficking in children
The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered an inquiry by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) into trafficking of children from Manipur and Assam to Tamil Nadu on the pretext of providing them better education. “We would like to have an inquiry into the matter,” a Bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B.S. Chauhan said, while asking the Commission to place its report within...
More »Problems of plenty for West Bengal’s potato farmers by Romita Datta
Potato farmers Madhusudan Mondal and Lakshman Adak, in their mid-50s, live 15km apart in West Bengal’s Hooghly district. Both have produced a bumper crop this year, but that has meant different things for Mondal and Adak. Mondal earned around Rs3.5 lakh selling 150 tonnes of potatoes to PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd, having signed a contract with the maker of carbonated beverages and Frito-Lay chips to sell his produce to it...
More »In a first, Assam to guarantee right to health
A quiet revolution to create a healthier India has kicked off in the east with Assam on Thursday becoming the first state in the country to introduce a bill guaranteeing the right to health and well-being. Responding to an appeal from the Centre for legislating on health rights, the state government tabled the landmark Assam Public Health Bill, 2010, in the assembly. The bill, which will be put to vote...
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