Dissatisfied with the recommendation of the National Advisory Council (NAC) for “phased, time-bound universalisation of foodgrains entitlements” across the country, the Right to Food Campaign has announced its decision to mobilise people for a “comprehensive” Food Security Act. “A nationwide call will be given towards this at the national convention being held in Rourkela, Orissa, from August 6,” the Campaign, a conglomeration of activists and civil society groups, said in a...
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Activists see grey areas in NAC food security formula
The new formula for the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA) arrived at by a meeting of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) on Wednesday has attracted the criticism of activists of the Right to Food Campaign, who say it is full of ambiguities and leaves many issues wide open. They feel NAC should have set a time frame for universalisation of the public distribution system. While the council specified...
More »Opposition to food bill plan by Radhika Ramaseshan
The proposals on the food security law, tentatively agreed upon by the National Advisory Council yesterday, were opposed by right to food campaigners who insisted their concerns should be taken on board before the bill was put into shape. Some of the campaigners, such as Nikhil Dey and Kavita Srivastava, were closely associated with council members Jean Dreze, Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander when they had worked together on the...
More »Food for a billion by Nitin Sethi
On Wednesday, the National Advisory Council turned UPA's election promises into firm deliverables under the National Food Security Bill. That was a tough one to resolve itself. But it's a job half done as yet. The Sonia Gandhi-led NAC is now going to get into a much more difficult arena. It has to figure out provisions for the act that hold administration and bureaucracy accountable for delivery and also ensure...
More »Universal PDS only to the poorest: NAC by Ruhi Tewari & Padmaparna Ghosh
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Wednesday moved a step closer to introducing its ambitious food security legislation after the coalition’s political leadership agreed to restrict the proposed universal public distribution system (PDS) to the poorest of the poor in the initial phase. Members of the National Advisory Council, or NAC, which serves as the political interface between the government and the Congress party and is chaired by Congress president...
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