-The Indian Express The Congress’s long-deferred promise, the food security bill, has been cleared by the cabinet and will now be debated and refined in Parliament. For all its formidable complexity, the draft bill is evasive on some of the fundamentals, like exactly who will be served by the subsidy. Though it has moved away from a narrowly targeted, tightly rationed approach and now intends to make cheap foodgrain readily available to...

The central government claims that allowing foreign direct investment into India’s retail sector will benefit small farmers, expand employment and lower food inflation. What has been the experience in India with organised retail so far and what has been the global experience with FDI? Sukhpal Singh (sukhpal@iegindia.org) is currently at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi. After being under relentless attack for a week, the United Progressiv Alliance government was forced to...

The controversial targeted National Food Security Bill, which got the nod of the Union Cabinet on Sunday, is a pet project of United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi. However, the recommendation made for near-universalisation by the National Advisory Council chaired by Ms. Gandhi, was set aside by the government. To be piloted by Minister of State (Independent) for Food and Public Distribution K.V. Thomas, the Bill will be introduced in the...

-PTI Daily food grains availability per person in India has dropped by nearly 7 grams in the last five years, Parliament was informed on Friday. Per capita availability of food grains stood at 438.6 grams per day in 2010 compared to 445.3 grams per day for a citizen in 2006, Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. It was 442.8 grams per day in...

-The Economic Times Sonia Gandhi's pet programme - the food guarantee scheme - will be cleared by the Cabinet on Monday. The decision has been taken after discussions with agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, who has been seeking detailed deliberation on the financial implications of the scheme as well as its impact on the farm sector. The bill will be referred to the standing committee on food after its introduction in Parliament....