-First Post In an interview with Firstpost, Ajay Chhibber, Regional Director of the UNDP, tells us why India ranks low on the Human Development Index, below China, Sri Lanka and Iran, what we need to do to improve our standing and why welfare schemes are not to be blamed for poor growth or inflation. Excerpts from the interview: * Why does India lag other BRIC countries in the HDI ratings? Compared to the other...
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A rough guide to India’s Food Security Bill
Introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2011, the UPA government’s Food Security Bill is finally going to be discussed in the current (Budget) Session of Parliament. The proposed legislation is now slated to see many additional amendments from the government, following criticism from the States, NGOs and diverse stake-holders working on access to food and child health. Attempt here is to summarise in a Q & A format the...
More »The wrong direction
-The Business Standard Budget underestimates food, fertiliser subsidies If the projections in the 2013-14 Budget are to be believed, subsidies on food and fertiliser which, along with petroleum subsidy, account for nearly 95 per cent of total subsidies are unlikely to rise much in the next financial year. This prognosis, reflected in an increase of just Rs 5,000 crore in food subsidy allocation and no change in the fertiliser subsidy, is odd;...
More »Food for all, by law not largesse-Akshai Jain
-Tehelka The National Food Security Act is probably going to undergo many changes before it is presented in Parliament. But everyone seems to agree that it’s time has come Towards the end of January, a few days after Republic Day and a little over a week after the Congress’s conclave in Jaipur, large half-page advertisements appeared in major newspapers: “Celebrating the 63rd year anniversary of our Republic by putting food on everybody’s...
More »'Food bill to cost 2.38L cr/yr'-Subodh Varma
-The Times of India How much would it cost the central government to provide grain to the whole country at affordable prices? A calculation by the Delhi-based advocacy group Centre for Budget & Governance Accountability (CBGA) puts the figure at Rs 2,38,471 crore for one year. In the current financial year (2012-13), the Centre spent Rs 75,366 crore on the food subsidy, that is, about 0.74% of the gross domestic product....
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