-The Hindu The Supreme Court directive should lead to better access under the Food security Act The National Food security Act, 2013, has met with prolonged political indifference, but there is some hope now since the Centre has been asked by the Supreme Court to ensure that States implement key aspects of the progressive law. The directives in the Swaraj Abhiyan case underscore the depressing reality that several State governments have not...

Will you go and make complaints to the same public official against whom you have a grievance? Of course not. However, in a judgement dated 21 July, 2017 by a two-judge Supreme Court (SC) bench, it has been observed that officers in charge of implementation of the National Food security Act (NFSA), were also designated as District Grievance Redressal Officers (DGROs) by several state governments. Section 15 of NFSA The SC...

-PTI New Delhi: The Reserve Bank has asked banks to ensure customers’ lockers remain safe and there is “no negligence” that could render banks liable to claims by locker holders, Parliament was informed today. Besides, banks are being probed by the fair trade regulator CCI for alleged cartelisation in providing locker services to their customers. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley said there is no specific...

-The Indian Express Advancing rights of women farmers can revolutionise the rural ecosystem The stereotypical image of an Indian farmer is a mustachioed man, clad in a white dhoti with farming tools in hand. The reality is the Indian agricultural landscape is fast being feminised. Already, women constitute close to 65 per cent of all agricultural workers. An even greater share, 74 per cent of the rural workforce, is female. Despite their...

-The Times of India blog A reply by Water Resources minister Uma Bharti  to a Lok Sabha question on groundwater depletion foregrounds tough trade-offs facing India’s policymakers. According to Bharti, an assessment of groundwater resources and usage showed that 16% of 6,584 assessment units in India are “overexploited.” A table which accompanies her reply provides state-wise data. Here, Punjab stands out for the magnitude of overexploitation. If 16% of assessed units in India...