-Down to Earth Only 15 states procure rice, 8 procure wheat as part of decentralised distribution scheme  Only 23 states have implemented the Decentralized Procurement Scheme (DCP) so far — 15 to procure rice and eight to procure wheat — despite the scheme being in place for 23 years.   This was flagged by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (Standing Committee) in a release dated August 13,...

-Newsclick.in As India celebrates its 75th Independence Day, there is a record harvest of foodgrains; but why are so many people hungry? India has reaped an all-time high food grain harvest for 2020-21 of nearly 309 million tonnes (MT), or nearly 31 crore tonnes, according to latest estimates by the agriculture ministry. This was propelled by record harvests of wheat (109.5 MT), rice (122.3 MT), nutri/coarse cereals (51.2 MT) and pulses (25.7...

-Newsclick.in The lack of proper relief measures has caused the locals in the worst-hit regions to protest against the local TMC leaders and administration. Kolkata: Inadequacy of relief measures are plaguing four flood affected districts of West Bengal—Howrah, Hooghly, West Medinipur, and Burdwan—as Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) continues to release water following heavy rainfall in the catchment areas. There are protests breaking out in areas under affected and leaders of the ruling...

-GaonConnection.com The Indian government is considering ‘mandatory’ food fortification in the country. Several health experts have written to FSSAI calling the decision ‘a blanket approach’ to meet the complexity of malnutrition in the country. Details here. At least 170 people and organisations, including medical experts and nutritionists, have today, on August 2, written a letter to Ashok Kumar Mishra, the assistant director of Food Fortification Resource Centre, department that regulates food under...

The pandemic's first wave had a devastating impact on the livelihoods of rural workers in Bihar (including the self-employed) last year, according to a survey based research, jointly done by economists from Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability at Monash University, Australia and the New Delhi-based Institute for Human Development. A recent press note issued by the authors of the study shows that almost 94.4 percent of the households participating...