The proposal that the poor be given direct cash subsidy under the food security law when grain is not available may not go through with many members of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) denouncing the move. Top sources confirmed that the Planning Commission's suggestion did not find favour with some members of the council who argued that a push should be given to "more government procurement" and overhauling the...
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'Food security bill must address nutrition needs of poor'
Issues like nutrition and welfare of disadvantaged sections are likely to be in focus when the National Advisory Council discusses the food security bill in its next meeting July 1, a member of the council said Monday. 'The welfare of the deprived sections needs to be addressed in the bill,' NAC member and social activist Harsh Mander said Monday. Headed by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the recently...
More »Govt examining Kirori Lal Meena's complaint of hunger deaths: Ashok Gehlot
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot today said the state government is examining complaint of hunger deaths in tribal area of Udaipur as claimed by Dausa MP Kirori Lal Meena. "Though there are no chance of hunger death following scheme like MGNREGA, but the state government is examining the matter and will seek details on the basis of Meena's complaint," Gehlot told reporters. "Necessary steps, if needed, will be taken after we receive...
More »Biometric cards for MGNREGA beneficiaries by Sanjay Ojha
Beneficiaries of schemes under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) will now get their wages without haing to go to the bank or post office and without seeking help from middlemen to complete the formalities. To ensure this, the state rural development department has sign an agreement with Union Bank which will provide biometric cards to the MGNREGA beneficiaries. The first lot of 5,000 biometric cards will be...
More »Aruna Roy interviewed by Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
Aruna Roy, the prominent political and social activist who spearheaded the campaign to institute the Right to Information Act in the 1990s, is an ardent critic of the anti-people and exclusionary policies of the first and the second United Progressive Alliance governments. A recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership in 2000, she heads the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana (a trade union of workers and peasants) in Rajasamand, Rajasthan,...
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