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...

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...

The 1,600 families in Haryana’s Panchkula district which line up at fair price shops for foodgrains and kerosene can do away with their prized ration cards, pieces of paper that entitle the poor to subsidized food and fuel. Beginning Tuesday, while they still have to queue up, these families will receive their rations after a biometric identification using smart cards. That’s a small beginning for an ambitious Rs138 crore Centrally funded project...

The National Advisory Council (NAC) met the Food Ministry halfway on Wednesday, when it recommended extension of universal food entitlements to one-fourth of either the poorest districts or the poorest blocks in the country. This decision emerged after some NAC members pointed out that universalisation of food security would not be possible, given the current state of agricultural productivity and the level of grain procurement. However, they agreed that the implementation...

Right to Food Movement, a network of NGOs favouring a food security law, said the NAC should address issues of abundance of food and efficiency of a public distribution system before finalising the draft on food security Bill. Citing Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) norms that prescribe 14 kg of cereals, 1.5 kg of pulses and 800 grams of cooking oil for a moderately active adult per month, RFM said...