Even as the new year brings little cheer on the price front, the famed apathy of our officials continues to move the common man to tears. Nearly 200 tonnes of onions imported from Pakistan are lying at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) at Nhava Sheva while officials pass the buck for not releasing the bulb to onion-starved markets. The affected traders have indicated that the cargo is stuck for want...

From the time a farmer in India harvests his produce to the time it lands on your plate, farm products go through several layers of middlemen, wholesalers, cold chains and other intermediaries, which push its price up by many notches. The end result: growers get paid less and consumers pay more. The stranglehold that the government has over agriculture produce marketing in India has given rise to abject inefficiencies, lack...

Blame stubborn procurement policy as the root of all evil. With the government sitting on heaps of foodgrain and with an acute shortage of quality storage facilities, analysts, some within the government, suggest exporting foodgrain and reviewing procurement policy. The suggestion is gaining ground among advisors and experts, given the current global situation, where wheat prices are on the rise on fears of subdued production in drought-hit countries like Russia, Uzbekistan and...

Even as the prime minister protests his inability to distribute food free of cost to the poor, the overflowing food stocks seem set to lead to another year of blockbuster expenditure on the public distribution system. According to numbers from the department of food and public distribution system (PDS), the government spent Rs25,600 crore on food subsidies during just the first four months of the year. The amount — higher than the...

Did the Union food minister hide facts from Parliament on the rotting grains in India? On Friday, Sharad Pawar claimed that the media reports of rotting of millions of tonnes of foodgrains are "quite exaggerated" while arguing that a master plan has been prepared to increase storage capacity. Replying to CPM member Brinda Karat during Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, Pawar said, "The statement which member made that millions of...