When little children in cities have a Happy Meal burger at McDonalds and get a Batman car or Ben 10 toy free, they are getting much more for free — all gift-wrapped by wheat and potato farmers in some far-off village. They are not paying for the labour put in by the farmer, the profits forgone by him, and the higher cost of living that he did not bill on...

The proposed Food Security Act is likely to float a fund to act as a backup in years of drought or flood. The contingency fund will facilitate direct cash transfer in place of Foodgrain entitlements to families unable to access Foodgrain due to reduced supply in the public distribution system.“We have suggested a fund for drought or flood, and when our production is hit. The fund will be with the...

Chief minister Nitish Kumar dreams big. His latest wish is to boost the agricultural output of the state to such an extent that every person in this nation has at least one food item from Bihar on his or her platter.“I want to take Bihar to the pinnacle. I dream of a day when every people in this nation will have at least one food item in their dish or...

An expert group appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to examine recommendations of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council on a draft food security law will present its findings by December-end. The NAC, which steers the UPA government’s social agenda, had drafted a framework for the Food Security Bill, which was presented before the expert group on November 26.“We are looking at the implications of the proposed provisions of the food...

The district supply office department will go online with the data on inflow of grains and available stocks in city fair price shops. The new system, brought in as part of modernisation of the public distribution system, is expected to put up the data by December 20.“We will put up the entire data online on www.mahafdopune.in, and this will enable citizens to check on the available stocks; this will ensure...