State links PDS to UID to plug leakages in food supplies but gaps remain Madhya Pradesh has opted for the technologically most sophisticated—and costliest—method for revamping its public distribution system (PDS). It is one of a handful of states that is trying to ensure that subsidised food reaches the segment it is meant for, the poorest of the population or those below the poverty line (BPL). But the route it has...

-The Hindu   More than half of these children are illiterate The streets of Delhi are home to more than 50,000 children, according to a census conducted by non-government organisation Save the Children and Institute for Human Development. Conducted in July and August last year, the findings of the census have been compiled into an extensive report titled “Surviving the Streets” which was recently presented to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. The study used...

Last week, an enterprising resident welfare association in Ghaziabad organised a registration camp for unique identification (UID) numbers. It found people queuing up till midnight for a week with infants, grandmothers and some with domestic workers in tow. No one had a clue as to how UID was different from the several other identity documents each of them had been scrupulously accumulating and treasuring. They were initially informed that all they...

"The Earth upon which the sea, and the rivers and waters, upon which food and the tribes of man have arisen, upon which this breathing, moving life exists, shall afford us precedence in drinking." - Prithvi Sukta, Atharva Veda Land is life. It is the basis of livelihoods for peasants and indigenous people across the Third World and is also becoming the most vital asset in the global economy. As the...

To issue biometric cards to 50 million people every year for the next four years. Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) plan to offer a unique identification number (UID) to every resident Indian is slated to get a fillip, with the country’s largest life insurer — Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) — saying it is ready to offer unique identification cards to its policyholders. About a year ago, LIC had signed...