State Government reduces wheat quota to 25 kg from 35 kg Human rights groups have challenged the Rajasthan Government's latest initiative to provide wheat at the rate of Rs.2 per kg to the 27 lakh-strong BPL families in the State pointing out that there is a catch in the move—that instead of the entitlement of 35 kg of wheat per BPL family every month, the quota has been brought down to...

Even as the government tries to meet the expectations of the Congress high command on the Food Security Bill, it is still trying tricks in the economist's books to keep its food subsidy bill as low as possible. While the Planning Commission has now accepted that it would include community kitchens and existing nutrition security schemes such as ICDS and mid-day meal programmes under the proposed Bill, it is also...

The Krushak Morcha of the BJP today held the Government responsible for the suicide of 68 farmers in the State. Passing several resolutions in the first State executive committee meeting here, the farmers wing of the party attributed the suicide cases to the faulty agricultural policies of both the State and Central governments. Alleging that farmers have been committing suicide due to crop loss and increasing loan burden, the resolution said that...

THE government will need to shell out Rs 6,000 crore more in food subsidy to support poor families under the proposed Food Security Act due to the revised estimate of the number of poor families in the country. Food subsidy will account for about 1.1% of the gross domestic product in the current fiscal year, compared with 0.9% last year, said a study by Deutche Bank. The Union budget has...

At Rs 34 a kg, sugar is bitter for some 29 lakh BPL families who haven’t received a grain of the sweetener at subsidised rate for over seven months now. Every BPL card-holder is entitled to a monthly quota of 1.12 kg sugar from PDS shops at Rs 13.50 a kg while the price in the open market is Rs 34 a kg. Streamlining the public distribution system (PDS) during his tenure,...