A panel of experts that sets the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance administration’s social agenda is likely to reject a draft law to offer cash compensation to the poor, who do not receive their quota of subsidized foodgrain. Members of the National Advisory Council (NAC), which is led by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, insisted during a Thursday meeting that the entitlement should be universal, instead of being restricted to families below the...
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Rust in the bread basket
A crop-killing fungus is spreading out of Africa towards the world’s great wheat-growing areas IT IS sometimes called the “polio of agriculture”: a terrifying but almost forgotten disease. Wheat rust is not just back after a 50-year absence, but spreading in new and scary forms. In some ways it is worse than child-crippling polio, still lingering in parts of Nigeria. Wheat rust has spread silently and speedily by 5,000 miles in...
More »UP’s children left unprotected by Shailvee Sharda
Even Bihar has outdone UP. Seven out of ten children in Uttar Pradesh lack protection against life threatening diseases like BCG, DPT and others. Of the ten high focus states in the country, Uttar Pradesh ranks lowest as far as routine immunisation (RI) coverage is concerned. Worse is that while other states in the category have picked up well in the last one decade, UP still lags behind. The fact...
More »NAC looking for expanded mandate by Smita Gupta
Sonia-led council to discuss “procedures” and Food Security Bill The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC), in its second avatar, is looking to expand its mandate. On Thursday, when its members assemble for its first substantive meeting, the NAC will discuss “procedures,” alongside the crucial — and now controversial — Food Security Bill, while a sub-committee will tackle the Communal Violence Bill. The Communal Violence Bill will come up before the NAC...
More »Food entitlements likely to be a contentious issue by Smita Gupta
The question of whether it is possible to move — and how swiftly — towards universalising food entitlements under the proposed National Food Security Act, dominated the second meeting of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) here on Thursday, NAC sources told TheHindu. Universalising food entitlements will hinge on availability of food grains, and on whether the exchequer is in a position to bear additional cost of food subsidy...
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