For Sonia Gandhi, the change could not have been more dramatic. Just last year, her contribution in pushing for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was hailed as the single largest reason for the fresh mandate received by a government avowedly dedicated to the aam aadmi. Yet, last week, Gandhi, as chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC) was reduced to lodging a complaint with Prime Minister...

NAC failed to address hunger and malnutrition: Right to Food Campaign Current proposals only offer window-dressing to present Targeted Public Distribution System Arguments suggesting lack of resources cannot be accepted, wrote Campaign members The Right to Food Campaign activists are “extremely disappointed” with the recommendations of the National Advisory Council (NAC) on the proposed Food Security Bill and have said they would continue their struggle for a Comprehensive Food Security Act. Urging the NAC...

The NAC proposals for the food security bill are narrow and lack in vision. What is needed is a comprehensive bill with universalisation of PDS and a focus on child malnutrition.   There was much excitement when food security became one of the issues in the manifestos of most major political parties in the run up to the 2009 General Elections. With burgeoning food stocks, double-digit food inflation, stagnant malnutrition rates, declining...

The Right to Food Campaign said on Thursday that it was “extremely disappointed” with the recommendations of the National Advisory Council (NAC) on the proposed Food Security Bill and that it would continue its struggle for a Comprehensive Food Security Act. Urging the NAC to “reconsider” its decisions, the Campaign said that the main objective of the proposals seems to be to minimise the budgetary and foodgrains burden of the [proposed]...

The controversy over the refusal of Ministry of Rural Development to pay minimum wages under Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is now bothering even the Congress-ruled States including Andhra Pradesh which has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah has been forced to write to the Prime Minister in the wake of the MORD not complying with the orders of the A.P. High Court suspending the...