State governments on Monday submitted their recommendations to the Centre on how to improve the public distribution system (PDS), including steps to ensure timely distribution and reduce leakages. The states presented their views at a two-day conference of Food Secretaries of all the states and Union Territories, which began on Monday. The meeting assumes mportance as the Centre is enacting a National Food Security Act to provide cheap foodgrains to...
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UN agency opens up access to largest database of hunger statistics
The world’s largest and most comprehensive database on food, agriculture and hunger is now open to the public, free of charge, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced today. Previously, it was possible to download a limited amount of information from FAOSTAT, but access to large amounts of data required a paid annual subscription. The database contains over one million data points covering more than 200 countries and territories. Hafez Ghanem,...
More »Govt slashes UIDAI budget by over 50 per cent
Troubles continue for the government's dream project Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Already battling a staff crunch, its request for Rs 7,000 crore to roll out 60 crore UID numbers in the first phase has been shot down by the Empowered Finance Committee (EFC). "The EFC is understood to have refused to entertain the request of the UIDAI for Rs 7,000 crore to execute the first phase of the ambitious...
More »Govt to dish out online food account for ration-card holders
THE government is planning to transfer food entitlements to ration-card holders through an electronic system, once the public distribution system (PDS) is linked to the unique ID, or Aadhar’s central data repository. This would enable state governments to directly tell residents—who will have to have an online account linked to Aadhar—about their entitlements, a discussion paper with the Unique ID Authority points out. Entitlement details would be updated monthly through...
More »Why you must read this censored chapter by Raman Kirpal
A RESEARCHER WORKING on the State of Panchayats Report (SOPR) 2008-09 met Mahangu Madiya in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district, a dangerous place for gathering data. Madiya’s story was startling. In January, he was given Rs 55 lakh compensation for his land, but the amount is sitting in his bank account. He does not even own a mobile phone. “I am concerned with farming. My land is important to me. What will I...
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