Up to three-fourths of villagers and half of city dwellers will be entitled to subsidised food grains under a new bill, with the Centre refusing to budge on the volume of grain entitlement and continuing with upper limits for beneficiaries. The National Food Security Bill, redrafted on the basis of feedback from states and civil society groups, will soon be sent to the cabinet so that it can be introduced in...
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Unanimous opposition to ‘targeted' Food Security Bill by Gargi Parsai
Cutting across party lines, several members of Parliament backed a universal public distribution system to ensure food security for all citizens “as a right” and vowed to oppose the ‘targeted' food security bill in Parliament. Among the participants at a Jan Manch organised by the Right to Food Campaign were G. Vivekananda, K. Keshava Rao and Mani Shankar Aiyer (Congress), Prakash Javadekar (BJP), Brinda Karat and P. Rajeev (CPI-M), D. Raja...
More »Kaun Banega Scorepati? by Jean Drèze
There is no typo in the title of this article, but the term “scorepati” is perhaps confusing. By way of explanation, let me introduce three acquaintances. Meena, age 50, lives in a two-room kaccha hut with her disabled husband Chhote Lal who studied up to Class 2. They own half an acre of unirrigated land and a goat. Meena is unable to take up any remunerated work as Chhote Lal needs...
More »Jan Manch on proposed food Bill today by Gargi Parsai
Even as a controversy is raging over the government decision to allow FDI in retail, activity is seen on the food security front, with several parties proposing to join a “Jan Manch” (public discussion) about the proposed National Food Security Bill organised here on Tuesday. “Almost all political parties have confirmed their participation” in the event being organised by the Right to Food Campaign, human rights activist Kavita Srivastava told a...
More »Right to Food campaign faults govt policy
-The Times of India If you have a kutcha house or have a tarpaulin to cover youself, the socio-caste survey will not consider you homeless. If a farmer has a hand-pump provided by the government or a kisan patra to take loans against that, the same BPL scheme could now disqualify him from a BPL card. If a widow has a 16 year-old son, she may end up losing the BPL status...
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