State Government reduces wheat quota to 25 kg from 35 kg Human rights groups have challenged the Rajasthan Government's latest initiative to provide wheat at the rate of Rs.2 per kg to the 27 lakh-strong BPL families in the State pointing out that there is a catch in the move—that instead of the entitlement of 35 kg of wheat per BPL family every month, the quota has been brought down to...
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Wheat prices drop on extra allocation on PDS
Wheat prices started showing a downward movement today after an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by FM Pranab Mukherjee okayed the release of an additional 30 lakh tonnes of wheat and rice for the poor, over and above the current PDS allocation, for the next six months. The most-active wheat contract was reportedly trading around 0.60% lower at Rs 1,158.40/qtl on the back of fresh selling in anticipation of...
More »Food inflation falls to 16.04%
Food Inflation further eased to 16.04% for the week ended April 24, as arrival of rabi (winter) crops cooled down prices of essential items. Inflation fell over 0.57% from 16.61% in the previous week on account of a percentage point drop in prices of fish, fruits, wheat and vegetables over the week. However, tea prices rose 13% while maize, gram and eggs prices were up 1% each. Prices of cereals...
More »Bitter truth: Sugar goes missing from PDS shops by Santosh K Kiro
At Rs 34 a kg, sugar is bitter for some 29 lakh BPL families who haven’t received a grain of the sweetener at subsidised rate for over seven months now. Every BPL card-holder is entitled to a monthly quota of 1.12 kg sugar from PDS shops at Rs 13.50 a kg while the price in the open market is Rs 34 a kg. Streamlining the public distribution system (PDS) during his tenure,...
More »Food coupons: The way forward? by T Nandakumar
THE government seems to be considering a new system to replace the present system of targeted public distribution system (TPDS) with food coupons or direct cash transfer. The ills that plague the present TPDS are well-known and well-documented. The two national surveys, one by Programme Evaluation Organisation of the Planning Commission and the other by ORG-Marg, both at the instance of the Union government, have identified the major problem areas...
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