To banish hunger and malnutrition from the country, Parliament is likely to pass the National Food Security Bill (NFSB). In our earlier article on this issue, Can we Afford Rs 6-Lakh-Cr Food Subsidy Bill in 3 Yrs? (ET, December 17, 2011), we concentrated on the likely financial implication that we estimated at roughly Rs 6,00,000 crore over a period of three years. In this piece, we address the operational challenges...
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Indian bureaucracy rated the worst in Asia
-PTI Indian bureaucracy is the worst in Asia with a 9.21 rating out of 10, according to a report by a prestigious consulting firm based in Singapore. India fared worst than Vietnam (rated at 8.54), Indonesia (8.37), Philippines (7.57) and China (7.11), said the report released today by Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. Singapore remained the best with a rating of 2.25, followed by Hong Kong (3.53), Thailand (5.25) Taiwan...
More »Enhance incomes, education and sanitation to tackle malnutrition
-The Economic Times It is a shame, said the Prime Minister, releasing a new report that says 42% of India's children suffer from malnutrition. Dr Manmohan Singh went on to talk of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), the government's preferred scheme for tackling the problem, and of the need to to focus on 100 extremely backward districts. An ICDS-like scheme is entirely appropriate but it would be a big mistake to...
More »Rural incomes to rise when fewer work for farm: Secretary by Nidhi Nath Srinivas
Downplaying the impact of drought in three states on national food production, agriculture and cooperation secretary Prabeer Kumar Basu says the number of people dependent on agriculture has to come down for rural incomes to rise. "We have sent our team for an assessment of the situation. None of this will affect overall production because it will be compensated by the rest of India where crop conditions are excellent. We will...
More »Boost investment to tackle price rise: Farmers tell FM
-The Economic Times Farm sector has sought reforms in supply chain infrastructure, rationalisation of subsidies, decentralised handling of foodgrain, and higher resources to farm productivity and ensure food security. Presenting its pre-budget wish list to the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, a delegation of farmers and sector experts said there was a need to boost investment in farm sector to tackle food inflation. Farm sector growth is likely to be 3-3.5% in 11th...
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