Planning Commission Member, Professor Abhijit Sen, has observed that bad management of food grains and a high economic growth rate, particularly in the non-agricultural sectors, had led to spiralling prices of food grains. Prof. Sen was delivering the Prof. L S. Venkataramanan Memorial Lecture on ‘Inclusive Growth', at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, here on Thursday. Prof. Sen said the economic growth rate of 9 per cent led to increased...

THE government seems to be considering a new system to replace the present system of targeted public distribution system (TPDS) with food coupons or direct cash transfer. The ills that plague the present TPDS are well-known and well-documented. The two national surveys, one by Programme Evaluation Organisation of the Planning Commission and the other by ORG-Marg, both at the instance of the Union government, have identified the major problem areas...

India’s food inflation slowed as finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said agriculture prices may cool further on prospects of sufficient rains this year. An index measuring wholesale prices of agriculture products including lentils, rice and vegetables compiled by the commerce ministry rose 16.61% in the week ended 17 April from a year earlier. It gained 17.65% the previous week, according to a statement in New Delhi on Thursday. Mukherjee on Wednesday vowed to...

A good wheat crop this season is likely to ease the near double digit inflation in the next 2-3 months, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said today. "This season very good harvest (wheat) is coming in. There is ample stock of foodgrain in the country. So the inflation psychology would be broken," Ahluwalia told reporters here. The wholesale price index (WPI) is currently nearing the double-digit mark, with the March-end...

Communist and opposition parties in India are holding nationwide protests against rising food and fuel prices. The Communist-governed states of West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala are likely to be worst hit by the 12-hour strike called by the parties. Air and train services have been disrupted in West Bengal, and attendance in offices across the states is reported to be patchy. Food Prices in India have risen by as much as...