Distribution of basic food grains and fuel at controlled prices every month through the Public Distribution System (PDS) could be the largest service provided by the Indian State, touching as it does over 65 million families through a network of nearly half a million retail shops. Given that the urban middle class has little stake in the health of the PDS, there have to be some compelling reasons for the...

Several officials across central ministries have been spending unusually long periods in the same department, thanks to political and bureaucratic patronage. Some of them have taken bizarre proportions, with at least two section officers in the ministry of corporate affairs being there since 1977, for almost 34 years. According to last available communications, the ministry top brass was still trying to ensure that both of them remained there. Details also show that...

The world population is estimated to reach nine billion by 2050. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that global food production needs to increase 70 per cent by 2050 compared to average 2005-07 levels to feed the rising global population. Clearly, a large part of the consumption will happen in India and China; which would require an additional 1.6 billion hectares of land to be brought into cultivation compared to...

An evaluation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the State has found several shortcomings in the implementation including corruption, inefficiency and lack of awareness about the programme. The draft of the evaluation, conducted by two researchers of the National Institute for Advanced Studies (NIAS) has found that while the rules stipulate that each worker entitled to get 100 days of employment under the scheme should have...

Six months ago, when dictrict collector R Prasanna was Transferred from Maoist-affected Bijapur to neighbouring Dantewada, local residents held rallies urging him not to leave. Now, as he readies to launch a development plan for Dantewada on April 1, Prasanna finds himself Transferred. The collector's Transfer comes after days of intense drama during which the district police stood accused of torching nearly 300 homes in three villages and obstructing both...