Food grain entitlement programme to start in the 150 poorest districts in the first year The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) is yet to reconcile the government's assurance of a monthly provision of 25 kg of foodgrains for every family with its desire to enhance it to 35 kg. Nor has it been able to resolve the contentious question of dual pricing — Rs. 3 a kg for the poor...
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E-Shakti smart card project launched in Patna dist
On Thursday in the presence of chief minister Nitish Kumar, worker Shyam Narayan Chauhan from Patna district put his finger print on a handset which matched with the biometric mark stored in his E-Shakti smart card that he possessed and flaunted as his new pride. Since the card is linked with financial inclusion of the card holder, he also drew Rs 300 from the total sum of Rs 397 in...
More »Decision soon on cash-for-food dole
The government will soon have to decide on the proposal of direct cash payments in lieu of food subsidy as a key committee of Parliament has asked the ministries concerned to decide quickly on the issue. This cash payment through smart cards is increasingly being seen as an option to prevent leakage in the public distribution system (PDS), and certain variants of the system are already being experimented with by...
More »Oliver Twist seeks food security by P Sainath
The NREGS is restricted. The PDS is targeted. Only exploitation is universal. The rotting of lakhs of tonnes of foodgrain in open yards, while shocking, is hardly new or surprising. Remember the rural poor marching on godowns in Andhra Pradesh in 2001 in similar circumstances? The Supreme Court was quite right in jolting the Union government. “In a country where admittedly people are starving, it is a crime to waste even...
More »Ration shops to go hi-tech by Ravleen Kaur
AGRICULTURE minister Sharad Pawar has launched smart cards in Haryana and Chandigarh as a pilot project aimed at streamlining the public distribution system (PDS). smart cards will replace paper cards and the subsidised ration bought at fair price shops (FPS) will be recorded online. The smart card will have biometric identification details of the beneficiary like fingerprints and iris scans. A smart card will also record the amount of stock a...
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