Recognising the impact of schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), President Pratibha Patil on Thursday called for their further utilisation in the agriculture sector in the emerging scenario of “farm labour shortage and food security.” The President's comments are significant in the context of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's recent letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to suspend the MGNREGS during crop harvesting...

Bill will come up for discussion in the Cabinet on Monday, says K.V. Thomas Even as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday said the proposed National Food Security Bill was “unacceptable,” Minister of State for Food K.V. Thomas indicated that legislation was coming up for discussion in the Cabinet on Monday. The CPI(M) has demanded the removal of the linking of entitlements to reforms in the public distribution system from...

Expressing concern over the agrarian crisis leading to farmers' suicides in the country, Rajya Sabha members on Thursday sought a special seven-day session to discuss the issue in depth. Initiating a short-duration discussion on the agrarian crisis, BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu sought the special session to discuss the situation and find solutions. Mr. Naidu said that while the economy was growing at 7-8 percent, the farm growth was only around...

The Opposition on Tuesday prevented Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal from moving the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2010, in the Rajya Sabha, claiming it had a “conflict of interest”. As the Opposition members continued to press their “point of order”, quoting rules to prevent the Minister from tabling the Bill, the House was adjourned twice during the day. Even before the Minister could move the Bill, Janata Dal (United) leader Shivanand...

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday deferred a decision on the draft National Food Security Bill that seeks to give legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrains to 46 per cent ‘priority' families of the 75 per cent rural population and 28 per cent ‘priority' households of the 50 per cent urban population. “The discussion on the Food Bill remained inconclusive. We are trying our best to introduce the Bill in this session,” Minister...