-The Hindu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday expressed her “strong opposition” to the draft Food Security Bill, 2011 and urged the Centre to exempt Tamil Nadu from the purview of the Bill. In her letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, she said the proposed Bill was replete with “confusion and inaccuracy.” The proposed classification of target groups into priority household (PHH) and general household (GHH) for delivery of food entitlements would surely invite...
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Food Security Bill likely to hurt the poor more
-The Economic Times The Food Security Bill cleared by the Cabinet is likely to hurt the poor more than it helps them. India already has 54.7 million tonnes of rice and wheat lying as stocks with the Centre and the states, 29.7 million tonnes of grain in excess of the buffer stocking norm. Offtake of rice in the current fiscal year has been 74% of the allotment, and that of wheat,...
More »Not a grain of sense
-The Business Standard The new Bill will set back the cause of food security - while wrecking central finances. The Food Security Bill cleared by the Union Cabinet for introduction in Parliament seems irrational and impractical by parts. It seeks to provide a statutory right to highly-subsidised food for 75 per cent of the rural population, with 46 per cent in the “priority” category, or below the poverty line (BPL); and to...
More »NABARD allocates Rs 2,000 crore for foodgrain storage warehouses
-PTI National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) today said it has earmarked Rs 2,000 crore for building warehouses which will help in facilitating distribution of foodgrain to poor under the proposed Food Security Act. "Under RIDF ( Rural Infrastructure Development Fund), we have proposed to provide funds to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore exclusively for construction of scientific godowns across the country in this fiscal," NABARD Executive Director S...
More »GM research being conducted on 72 plant species
-PTI Research work related to genetic modification (GM) in the agriculture sector is being conducted on 72 crops/plant species, Parliament was informed. "According to information available with ICAR ( Indian Council of Agricultural Research), research related to genetic modification is currently being carried out in 72 crops/plant species," Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. GM research is being carried in cotton, soyabean, rice, maize,...
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