Expressing concern at a large quantity of Foodgrains rotting in the FCI godowns across the country, the CPI-M today demanded universal coverage of the people under the Public Distribution System (PDS) for proper utilisation of available food stocks. The government should consider universal coverage of the people under the PDS by dilution the criterian of APL or BPL for not only full utilisation of available Foodgrains, but also to rein in...

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has responded to Supreme Court's recommendations of distributing grains to the poor for free instead of letting them rot. "It's not possible to implement the Supreme Court's order," the minister said.   On August 13, the apex court had asked the Centre to consider free distribution of Foodgrain to the hungry poor of the country instead of allowing it to rot in Food Corporation of India...

Bandicoots eat up over 50 lakh tonnes in FCI godowns, says BJP BJP delegation, led by party national secretary K. Laxman, visit godowns at Vanagapally State not releasing Foodgrains as it wants middlemen to benefit: Laxman Bandicoots have eaten up over 50 lakh tonnes of Foodgrains stored in the godowns of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), according to the revelations of a BJP delegation, led by party national secretary K. Laxman, that...

Independent India's greatest failing must be its inability to feed its people. With 42 per cent of all children malnourished, 56 per cent of women anaemic, and the country ranked 65th out of 84 countries on the Global Hunger Index, the report card of the state on nutrition must have an F. Most disturbing is the fact that things have got worse over time. In the first half of the...

The disastrous effect of the state throwing up its hands and retreating is most starkly visible in agriculture . Remember: agriculture involves 70 per cent of the country's population , generates about 56 per cent of national income, 64 per cent of total expenditure and about one third of total savings. So, any neglect translates into gigantic costs. And the central crisis in agriculture — production barely matching a depressed...