Highlighting the strength of the agriculture sector in India, Union Food Minister K.V. Thomas has said that the national food production was high despite drought and floods which have affected about 100 districts of the nation. Briefing reporters on the sidelines of a meeting, Thomas maintained food production was going according to the expectations of the Central Government. "100 districts in the country are under severe drought. There is flood in Orissa,...

Agriculture, which had dragged down growth during UPA's first term, is now helping the GDP numbers shine. Good monsoon has helped drive the growth expectations comfortably over 5 per cent, adding some new shine to the economy. According to Advance Estimates, the government expects that the 8.6 per cent growth of the economy during the current fiscal will be powered by agriculture growing at 5.4 per cent, a big jump over...

The countrywide share of corporate retail in food distribution tripled in the past four years when retail food prices showed the greatest increase. THE dramatic increase in food inflation over the past two years has been associated with several surprises. One major surprise has been how the top economic policymakers in the country have responded to it. The initial response was one of apparent disbelief, followed very quickly by the...

The finance ministry has offered only a 12% increase in the budgetary support to the central plan for the coming fiscal against the Planning Commission's demand for an 18% hike. The plan panel sought higher support, citing increased requirement for the flagship schemes, particularly MGNREGA, or Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act . The North Block, constrained by its compulsion to return to fiscal consolidation and additional expenditure due...

The National Advisory Council (NAC) had been widely credited with framing three pro-people legislations — the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), the Right to Information (RTI) and the Forest Rights Act — under the UPA 1 government. So when NAC 2 began discussions on the Food Security Act in mid-2010, expectations were high. The initial vision of an act with a universal public distribution system (PDS), extensive children's entitlements...