-Down to Earth A high level UN panel on Access to Medicines wants members to make full use of TRIPS flexibilities to protect public health If ever India needed a clear endorsement of its laws on intellectual property rights (IPRs) and their application in meeting public health priorities, it has come from the highest quarters. The report of the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel (HLP) on Access to Medicines has, directly...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Why are Drought-Affected States not Lifting Sufficient Food Grain: Supreme Court
-IANS The Supreme Court on Thursday sought response from 13 drought-affected states as to why they were not lifting enough food grain to made available at subsidised rates to the priority and vulnerable sections of the people in affected areas. The bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice N.V. Ramana sought response from the 13 states as NGO Swaraj Abhiyan told the court that they were not lifting sufficient food grains...
More »Bringing PDS out of the abyss -Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri
-Deccan Herald System overhaul: Transparency measures with strong accountability mechanisms can usher in change The National Food Security Act (NFSA) passed in 2013 gives statutory backing to the Public Distribution System (PDS). Up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population is entitled to receive food grain under the Act. Beneficiaries are categorised into priority households, entitled to 5 kg of subsidised grains per person per month, and Antyodaya...
More »Grit and a fistful of infested rice -Swapna Majumdar
-The Hindu Business Line How the women of Deoria challenged the public distribution system malpractices Women no longer have to return empty-handed from the fair price shops mandated to give rations under the government’s public distribution system in village Bandgunia in Uttar Pradesh. Not only is the full quota of rice, pulses and sugar given, the shopkeeper in this village in Gauri Bazar block of Deoria district also ensures the women are informed...
More »Extending food security
-The Hindu The Centre’s coercive method has worked. Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the two States that were holding out against pressure from New Delhi to implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA), have also fallen in line. By threatening to raise the price at which it was allocating foodgrains if they did not implement the law, the Centre has managed to get these two States to agree to the implementation of the Act...
More »