Dr Abhijit Sen is Member, Planning Commission of India. He is a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cambridge (currently on leave as Professor of Economics at the Jawaharlal Nehru University) and has also taught at the Universities of Sussex, Oxford and Cambridge. Besides serving various think tanks in the states and at the centre, Dr Sen has been a consultant with UNDP, ILO, FAO and various other multilateral...
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Paddy prices in West Bengal drop on high production by Sutanuka Ghosal
A high kharif paddy production 2011-12 coupled with almost zero exports to Bangladesh has pushed down paddy prices in Bengal. Paddy is selling around Rs 850-900 per quintal below the minimum support price of Rs 1,080 per quintal. Bengal, which stands second in rice production, has produced 15% extra this kharif paddy as compared to 2010-11 kharif. A dearth of rice mills in the state is also one of the major...
More »Problems with the Food Bill by Arvind Panagariya
While some may view the food security Bill as the instrument of combating poverty, this distinction belongs to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the flagship anti-poverty programme of the United Progressive Alliance government. The proponents of the food security Bill at the National Advisory Council have promoted it as the instrument of fighting widespread and rising hunger, instead. But what is the empirical basis of the claims of widespread and...
More »Too little, too late by Harsh Mander
If we get it right, the Food Security Bill carries the potential to alter the destinies of millions of India's poor and disadvantaged people, by assuring them as a legal right sufficient food to live with dignity. It was approved by the Cabinet after over two years of intense, sometimes fractious debate. Opinion in the Cabinet itself was reportedly divided around the proposed law. Gaping divisions persist, even as the...
More »Bullion dominates futures market, agriculture at 10% by Sidhartha
Policymakers have repeatedly said that commodity futures help farmers hedge their risks. But data from Forward Markets Commission (FMC), the regulator for the business worth Rs 106 lakh crore during April-October, paints a different picture. The share of agricultural trade is just a tad over 10% and within this, food products such as soya oil and chana accounted for less than 7% of the total value. Of course, the government itself...
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