The Centre is gearing up to put in place a stringent monitoring system for the Public Distribution System (PDS) even as coining the food security law becomes more complicated and prolonged. Some 11 states gave their suggestions to the Centre on the issue here today at a meeting of state food ministers, in what is seen as a bid by food minister Sharad Pawar to bring PDS back into the...

The government will enact a legislation to ensure subsidised wheat and rice to the poor, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said at a seminar titled Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern States. “We are committed to enacting a legislation on food security (called National Food Security Act). But to make it successful, we need to produce more, procure more and strengthen the delivery mechanism for making foodgrain accessible to the poor at affordable...

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that the government will enact a legislation to provide subsidised wheat and rice to poor, but to make it a success there is a need to boost production and strengthen delivery system. "We are committed to ensure Food Security Act and to make successful, we need to produce more, procure more and strengthen delivery mechanism for making accessible and affordable," Mukherjee said while addressing...

The radicals in the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) are unlikely to give in to the conservatives’ case against the universalisation of food subsidy. They insisted that not only was universalisation theoretically possible but it also worked “successfully” on the ground. In what could make the Centre squirm, they cited BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh as an example of what an inclusive public distribution system (PDS) could do. An indication that the NAC’s radicals were...

The Coal and Environment Ministries have reached a compromise solution on the controversial “no-go” designation of coal mining blocks in forested areas, following the reported intervention of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Speaking on the sidelines of a function here on Tuesday, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said that while the final “go areas” will span 30,000 hectares more than his initial proposal, it was also...