The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Food Security will have to wait for formal views from the National Advisory Council (NAC) before its next move on the government’s promise to legislate a National Food Security Act. The EGoM, which is scheduled to meet Friday, chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, did not list the Bill on its agenda for the meeting. While officials claimed that this was because Deputy...
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Plan panel for hoarding grain to curb subsidy? by Nitin Sethi
Is the Planning Commission too singularly focused on reducing food subsidy and intending to dissuade people from buying subsidized food rations even as the government spends thousands of crores to store excess grains in its stocks? Is it being penny wise but pound foolish? An internal note of the Plan panel suggests so. A note prepared by the panel reveals some startling information. On April 1, 2010 -- normally the...
More »Maharashtra sugar mill owners lobby for political intervention on cane prices by Dilip Kumar Jha
The Maharashtra government may intervene to make farmers accept a lower price for sugarcane supplied to mills, given the way these have gone out of line with current market prices. Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has convened a meeting on Thursday with mill representatives on the issue. With the current cane prices of Rs 240-250 a quintal delivery at the mill gate, the cost of sugar production comes to around Rs 2,700...
More »MP first state in the country to push for food security for the poor
The recent allegations made are uncalled for and can be seen as an attempt by bidders disqualified due to not fulfilling the tender requirements. Companies like Glodyne who have been crying foul did not even have an ISO certification to bid for the project and have failed miserably in states like Bihar to execute projects of nation building NREGA it took on. Other players included TCS and Aditya Birla Group...
More »A bread and butter solution by Himanshu
One of the first issues the reconstituted National Advisory Council (NAC) will have to deal with is the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA). Given the inability of the government to control food prices that remain unacceptably high and the scant regard the ruling United Progressive Alliance has shown for food security, it should be taken up on an urgent basis if the government is to preserve its credibility among...
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