The Sonia Gandhi-led national advisory council (NAC) has won decisive victories in keeping at bay the governments attempt to regulate right to information and ensuring the pro-tribal Forest Rights Act is made more effective for its intended beneficiaries. On the national Food Security Act -- the third bone of contention between the government and NAC -- the Council at its meeting on Saturday held its ground and advocated a staggered...

WHILE old stocks of foodgrains which are contaminated and inedible are being given to adivasi areas through the public distribution system (PDS), the newer stocks are being kept for exports, Brinda Karat, member of parliament and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, told the union food minister K V Thomas on February 21. Showing to the minister the samples of contaminated rice collected from adivasi areas in Andhra Pradesh, she said inedible wheat...

A shift from the traditional rice-wheat cycle and linking farmers directly to the market can end the current stagnation in farm sector, according to the Economic Survey 2010-11 tabled in the Parliament on Friday.The survey stated that capital investment were required not only for farm productivity but also to create adequate infrastructure for transport, storage and distribution of agricultural produce. The stagnation is evident from the fact that whereas overall GDP...

Although finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had promised food security and inclusive growth in his budget speech last year, hunger continues to stalk over 300 million citizens of the country. India slipped to 67th place in the Global Hunger Index 2010 rankings of 122 countries prepared by International Food Policy Research Institute. An Oxford University report said that 410 million Indians live in poverty. While there may be nit-picking over the...

The new food security schemes point to the capacity of agriculture to produce more when the incentives are right. Supply of cheap foodgrains will trigger demand for other food products, which the farm sector will have to meet. The many rural development programmes in operation have complex effects on the rural economy. Programmes such as Bharat Nirman are expected to improve connectivity of markets, provide access to more efficient sources of...