Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday told NDTV that the food subsidy bill is set to rise by Rs 6,000 crore due to an upward revision in the number of families living below poverty line. Montek said that the plan panel would revise BPL count up from 6.5 crore to 7.4 crore families. The fresh estimate could be based on Suresh Tendulkar's poverty formula, he added. Earlier, the government said that it needs...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Total Matching Records found : 2913
Needed: a food security law by Praful Bidwai
The UPA government has betrayed its promise of inclusive growth over the years as a result of which poverty ratios have remained extremely high despite rapid economic growth, says Praful Bidwai. The new National Advisory Council must act urgently on nutritional security and public healthcare, he adds. The reconstitution of the National Advisory Council under Sonia Gandhi, announced by India’s United Progressive Alliance government, is good news. The original NAC died...
More »Stamp of possibility by Bhaskar Dutta
An inquiry committee appointed by the Supreme Court to look into the functioning of the public distribution system has just turned in a damning report to the effect that the system is riddled with corruption and has virtually collapsed in some states. This observation will not come as a surprise to most people. Indeed, it is not a coincidence that even the Central government’s own Economic Survey mentions the need...
More »Montek for 35-kg grain a month to the poor
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is pitching for supply of 35 kg of foodgrains every month at Rs. 3 a kg to the poor, up from 25 kg proposed under the new Food Security Act. “Not unreasonable if it is for the poor” It is not wrong or unreasonable to increase the quantity. “This will be costlier but if we are doing it for the poor, it will not be...
More »Food Bill | How 3 pages changed govt approach by Samar Halarnkar
The government’s effort to draft a seminal law to fight hunger is flawed, inadequate, opaque and “not in the spirit of the election promises” in the Congress manifesto, says a confidential note circulated to top ministers at a late-evening meeting on Monday. The three-page note—a copy of which is with the Hindustan Times—came from the office of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and was handed to the select empowered group of ministers...
More »
