In light of the Supreme Court's observations, the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Food will meet here on Thursday and is expected to look at the possibility of the government allocating more subsidised foodgrains for the poor under the Targeted Public Distribution System. Union Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar — who told the Lok Sabha that the government was examining the Supreme Court's order on the distribution of foodgrains...
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Grain stocks pile up at FCI on slipup
Has the food ministry been misleading over changes to its subsidised grain sale in the open market, resulting in massive excess stocks still lying with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and huge wastage of grain at at time of high food inflation? In a letter to the PMO this month, the food and consumer affairs ministry has acknowledged that wheat and rice to retail consumers in states under the...
More »Threat to a system by CP Chandrasekhar
The National Advisory Council's move to restrict universalisation of the PDS to the most disadvantaged districts may ultimately end up limiting its impact. RECENT weeks have seen rather contradictory statements on the challenge of ensuring food security and the set of feasible initiatives for managing the food economy. To start with, the National Advisory Council (NAC), which recognises the need for a universal public distribution system (PDS), and which was expected to...
More »Behind the success story of universal PDS in Tamil Nadu by S Vydhianathan and RK Radhakrishnan
Technological interventions, innovative and fool-proof delivery mechanisms, constant reviews and fixing responsibility at each level ensure that an effective delivery system is in place. The Public Distribution System in Tamil Nadu is a success story, in its coverage as well as its pricing. Each family, whether below the poverty line or not, is entitled to 20 kg of rice at Re. 1 a kg. The State Government opted for universal coverage...
More »Signalling a shift to universal PDS by Gargi Parsai
The NAC's recommendations on food security measures take heed of the fact that PDS reform is dependent on the availability of enough foodgrains. Three major elements of the United Progressive Alliance government's commitment to provide food security to the people are reforming the public distribution system (PDS), raising foodgrain productivity and production, and creating a decentralised, modern warehousing system. Ideally, the reforms in the PDS should have come first for the availability...
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