AFTER MORE than a year’s debate on enumerating caste in Census 2011, it was finally decided in a Cabinet meeting on 19 May that all Indians would be asked their caste and religion along with their economic status. The caste census will be conducted as part of the ‘below poverty line’ (BPL) survey, to be carried out by the Ministries of Rural Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation along...

-The Economic Times   Lok Pal bill joint draft committee member Arvind Kejriwal today alleged that vested interests seemed to have ganged up to discredit the proposed Legislation by unleashing a sustained campaign to spread misconceptions and falsehood. He said vested interests first made an attack on the individual members of the committee and now they are attacking the bill per se questioning the provisions of the bill. "You would see various articles...

-The Hindu   The CPI(Marxist) on Thursday described the Planning Commission's definition of BPL as “a mockery and a fraud” and found fault with the UPA government for not being able to deliver on its two-year-old promise of food security Legislation. In an editorial in the latest edition of the party organ People's Democracy, the party referred to the ongoing proceedings on a PIL before the Supreme Court, regarding the Planning Commission's...

Unpaid bills of Rs 17,000 crore — and growing — have revealed hidden food subsidies and acute financial mismanagement as the government prepares to adopt the costliest, most ambitious Legislation of its tenure. Documents accessed by Hindustan Times reveal this is the money the government now owes the state-run Food Corporation of India (FCI), hampering its mammoth operation of buying grain from the farmer, storing it and selling it cheaply...

-The Indian Express   With Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee resigning from the Union Cabinet to take over as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) today completely sidelined her objections against government role in land acquisition — even for private industry. “The government will be acquiring 100 per cent of the land for public purpose by offering very good compensation to landowners. If the public purpose...