-Economic and Political Weekly Bihar’s public distribution system used to be one of the worst in India, but the system has improved significantly from 2011 onwards. The National Food Security Act, backed early on by the political leadership, enabled the state to include the bulk of the rural population in this improved system. However, there is still a long way to go in ensuring that the system is reliable, transparent and...
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Thought For Food -Jean Dreze & Reetika Khera
-Outlook Even the worst-governed states can improve their PDS and ensure grain for the poorest. Look at Madhya Pradesh. THE National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, is not in very good health. Two years after it came into force, just a few states are implementing it. Others are still struggling with the identification of eligible households, public distribution system (PDS) reforms and other preparations. Yet, recent evidence suggests that some states...
More »Mystery surrounds India health survey -Justin Rowlatt
-BBC Good health data is rare in India. The last time the country published a comprehensive, state-wide survey was back in 2007. So why hasn't a vast survey of women and children carried out by the Indian government with the UN agency for children, Unicef, been released? India's so-called Rapid Survey of Children was a huge undertaking. Almost 100,000 children were measured and weighed and more than 200,000 people interviewed across the country's...
More »The digging-holes myth -Jean Dreze
-The Indian Express The view of MGNREGA as a makeshift work programme is far off the mark. Few social programmes in India are more resented by the corporate sector than the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). This is easy to understand, considering that one of the primary aims of the MGNREGA is to empower workers and reduce their dependence on private employers. Naturally, employers see this as a threat...
More »Households using PDS double in seven years -Rukmini S
-The Hindu Activists attribute trend to improved functioning of service. New official data show that the proportion of Indian households using the Public Distribution System has nearly doubled over seven years. These households are relying more on the PDS and less on open market sources than before. The National Sample Survey Organisation’s report on the ‘Public Distribution System and Other Sources of Household Consumption’ was released last week and looks at findings from...
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