Even as the issue of price rise takes centrestage in Parliament, the government’s attempt to offload wheat in the open market has found few takers among small traders. The reason: the price of wheat fixed by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for small traders is higher than the prevailing wholesale prices at major centres across the country. In June, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab...

The 1,600 families in Haryana’s Panchkula district which line up at fair price shops for foodgrains and kerosene can do away with their prized ration cards, pieces of paper that entitle the poor to subsidized food and fuel. Beginning Tuesday, while they still have to queue up, these families will receive their rations after a biometric identification using smart cards. That’s a small beginning for an ambitious Rs138 crore Centrally funded project...

For LPG and kerosene subsidy, government has to make up from petrol, says Montek Singh Ahluwalia he government should use its money on building schools and hospitals than subsidising oil companies, which were making huge profits because of grant, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said. “The profits shown by the oil companies are largely due to subsidies. We are not supposed to be subsidising the oil companies ... we...

The sale of foodgrains through the public distribution system to poor families throughout the country at highly subsidised prices is stinking of corruption, hoarding and black marketing, the Supreme Court appointed central vigilance committee said in its damning reports. After touring various states and scrutinising the operation of PDS system through fair price shops, the committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice D P Wadhwa used following terminology for...

Political influence and interference hampering distribution, says court-appointed vigilance panel  Large-scale diversion of foodgrains; black marketing by fair price shop dealers All-round complicity among FPS, transporters and corrupt Civil Supplies officials The Supreme Court-appointed Central Vigilance Committee (CVC) has slammed the Public Distribution System as one of the most corrupt sectors, saying the root cause of its failure in several States is political interference. “Corruption is all pervasive in the entire chain involved...