-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Food Corporation of India (FCI) should focus on procuring grains from eastern states such as Bengal, Bihar and Assam where the second green revolution is expected, a government panel said today. "The FCI should move on to help those states where farmers suffer from distress sales at prices much below MSP (minimum support price), and which are dominated by small holdings, such as eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Nutrient facts -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express Having decontrolled petrol and diesel, the government's next focus is on containing fertiliser subsidies. Key to this is decontrol of urea and ushering in a system of crediting subsidy payments directly into the bank accounts of farmers. HARISH DAMODARAN explains the existing subsidy regime and the road ahead. * What's so special about urea decontrol? Urea is the only fertiliser whose maximum retail price (MRP) is still fixed...
More »UPA’s food Act was more about ‘vote security’: FCI revamp panel chief -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express The National Food Security Act (NFSA) passed during the previous UPA regime's tenure was more about "vote security" than "food security", according to Shanta Kumar, BJP MP and chairman of the high level committee on Restructuring the Food Corporation of India (FCI). Defending his committee's recommendation to bring down the coverage of the NFSA from 67 per cent to around 40 per cent of the country's population, Kumar claimed...
More »Improving an unworkable law -Sanjoy Chakravorty
-The Hindu For the land-acquirer, the land act ordinance tries to lessen the indirect price of acquisition and transaction by diluting requirements for social impact assessments and referenda. For the land-loser, it not only retains all forms of compensation and rehabilitation, but also grows the number of those eligible for lucrative pay-offs The government of India continues to search for the right way to do land acquisition. Last week, the Union Finance...
More »Intelligence Bureau raises red flag on farmer suicides in its report to PMO -Aman Sharma
-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The Intelligence Bureau has termed loan waiver and relief packages for distressed farmers as "short-term" measures and said the issue of farmer suicides needs a comprehensive solution. In a report to the Prime Minister's Office last week, the IB said farmer suicide is on a rise in Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Punjab. It also pointed to suicides by debt-ridden farmers in Gujarat, UP and Tamil Nadu...
More »