-The Times of India In the decade or so that i was at the Planning Commission, i always had advisory responsibility for the food ministry/public distribution system, among other issues of development policy. It did not take very long to find out that the fundamental problem with the system was about so-called "leakages" abetted by corruption: One soon learnt that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was one of the most...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Congress leadership remains undecided on the ordinance route for National Food Security Bill, with the Cabinet meeting yet to be slated for Friday. Sources said the party is yet to configure how to handle some of its reluctant allies as well as the opposition while contending with the fact that the bill could take anything between 6-9 months before the benefits finally roll out to...

-The Hindu     The promise of near-universal coverage is now nowhere in sight. And the UPA's seemingly fretful efforts to get the measure through do not appear to be convincing The nation is watching with trepidation the play of politics over the National Food Security Bill, which envisages food security for 67 per cent of the population by providing 5 kg of rice, wheat or coarse cereals per person per month at subsidised...

-The Business Standard Time to question the assumptions behind the food Bill In the midst of all the politicking as to how and when the draft food security Bill will become law, one thing at least is clear: the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) intends to push forward with the much-criticised legislation. UPA-II has little to show for four years in power, and perhaps it imagines that the Bill will somehow alter the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Concern over the anti-Naxal policies not yielding desired results despite massive fund allocations and ambitious development schemes found voice at the meeting of the UPA coordination committee meeting on Monday. The discussion, held in the wake of a massacre of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh on May 25, saw leaders pondering whether the government is getting it right in terms of its policy efforts and needs to...