The Centre will set up a Central Food Security Fund to monetarily compensate the Below Poverty Line (BPL) beneficiaries of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) who fail to get the proposed mandatory 25 kilograms of wheat or rice per family per month at a subsidised rate of Rs. 3 per kg. The compensation would be at the economic cost of the foodgrains so that an entitled beneficiary can buy grains...

An empowered ministers' panel meeting tomorrow is likely to take some decisions to tackle price rise and finalise the draft Food Security Bill, which seeks to give the poor the right to get rice and wheat at Rs 3 per kg. The empowered group of ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is scheduled to review the minimum export price (MEP) for Basmati. In the face of high food inflation, the...

In a congested part of Patna, capital of India's Bihar state, stands a striking yellow building - a 100-year-old mansion that has clearly seen better days. Inside it, in a small dark room, a young bearded cleric is reading out sermons from the Muslim holy scriptures to a group of boys seated cross-legged on the floor. They are in their late teens, some are wearing skull caps and they all listen...

Food inflation remains extraordinarily high at 17.79%. The government emphasises supply problems caused by last year’s drought, But a bigger and less reversible problem is government-led inflation through big increases in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP). The MSP for wheat and paddy rose only modestly between 2002-03 and 2005-06 , from Rs 620 to Rs 650/ quintal and from Rs 530 to Rs 570/quintal respecticely. But after that the MSP shot...

As the de-controlled fertilizer regime comes into play from April 1, the Centre has asked the States to take steps to ensure that stocks and the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of fertilizers are clearly displayed for the benefit of farmers. The States have also been asked to keep a strict vigil on “smuggling of fertilizers across the international border and deal sternly with diversion of fertilizers to non-agricultural uses.” This, and...