Preliminary findings of a survey among 3,994 respondents from 11 states reveal that most vulnerable households and communities, such as SCs, STs, OBCs, PVTGs, slum dwellers, daily wage labourers, farmers, single women headed households, etc. continue to witness depressed incomes during September-October in comparison to their income levels prior to the lockdown. The face-to-face survey conducted by the Right to Food Campaign and Center for Equity Studies (instead of telephonic...
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Covid-time demand helps whittle down FCI grain stocks -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express The gap between the current and year-ago stocks, too, has narrowed down from over 15 mt to 1.5 mt between June 1 and October 1. Covid-19 may have unleashed all-round economic devastation, but has also turned into an opportunity for whittling down the Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) massive grain mountain. At 68.49 million tonnes (mt), the total wheat and rice stocks in the Central pool as on October 1...
More »Farm bill 2020: actual text vs perception -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill: The government has sought to project the farm Bill as “creating an ecosystem” where farmers will enjoy the “freedom of choice” to sell to anyone, anywhere in the country. On many occasions, it isn’t the law but what it appears to convey and the context in which it is framed that holds relevance. This certainly is the case with the...
More »Foodgrain stocks fall marginally despite PMGKAY -Harish Damodaran
-The Indian Express For July 1, the normative minimum stocks to run the targeted public distribution system (TPDS) and other welfare schemes, plus maintain a strategic reserve over and above that, are 27.58 mt of wheat and 13.54 mt of rice. Despite efforts at disposing of surplus foodgrains – including by distributing these free under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and a special scheme for migrant labourers returning to...
More »Grain aplenty and the crisis of hunger: on universal Public Distribution System -Dipa Sinha
-The Hindu The focus on One Nation One Ration Card is misplaced when what is needed is a universal Public Distribution System With the economic crisis continuing on the one hand and the health system crumbling under the burden of rising COVID-19 cases on the other, it is clear that it will take a long time for things to get back to “normal”. Unemployment is high and it will take a while...
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