While the government is spending thousands of crores of rupees in various welfare programmes, food subsidy and is even planning a food security law for the poor, the rural development ministry said poverty has come down in magnitude. In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for rural development Pradeep Jain said that irrespective of the method used (old or new), the percentage of the population below poverty...

A day after the Prime Minister urged a quick start to a national food security network, it has emerged that his government may let foodgrain —enough to feed 140 million poor people for a month—decay, instead of spending money and effort distributing it to the poor. Warning of an “emergency situation”, a person familiar with the situation told the Hindustan Times that 17.8 million tonnes of wheat and rice are being...

The Chhattisgarh government has opposed a new mining legislation, which stipulates licence allocation on a first-come-first-serve basis, stating that it is “dangerous for tribals” and would lead to loss of revenue for the State. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, who participated in the meeting of the National Development Council last week, said he has raised the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well. “We have opposed the new mining legislation and...

The National Advisory Council's proposals on the Food Security Bill represent a bad deal for the poor. The struggle for an effective and equitable Food Security Bill (FSB) has received a setback with the disappointing proposals put forward by the National Advisory Council. There is a disturbing disjuncture between what is being claimed and the actual implications of the proposals. Indeed it may be said that the NAC proposals create new...

The National Advisory Council, led by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, has come up with the muchawaited contours of the National Food Security Act. The NFSA, it is hoped, will become India’s flagship programme for tackling hunger and malnutrition, equal in scale and vision to the ambitious and highly successful Fome Zero Programme launched by President Lula Da Silva in Brazil. The UPA government is also hoping that the NFSA will...