Indicating a new-found determination to stay the course on politically sensitive reform measures, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not only defended the recent decontrol of petrol prices but also said diesel rates would also be freed of government control. In comments while returning from the G20 summit in Toronto, the PM seemed to be in an assertive mood despite the Opposition calling a bandh to protest fuel price hikes. "The fact...
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A bread and butter solution by Himanshu
One of the first issues the reconstituted National Advisory Council (NAC) will have to deal with is the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA). Given the inability of the government to control food prices that remain unacceptably high and the scant regard the ruling United Progressive Alliance has shown for food security, it should be taken up on an urgent basis if the government is to preserve its credibility among...
More »Govt may offer cash to poor who fail to get food by Liz Mathew
A new draft of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) suggests offering cash compensation to poor people who are unable to receive their quota of subsidized foodgrains. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government will discuss the draft with state food secretaries in a meeting on 14-15 June. “The Central government shall set up, by notification, a central food security fund for payment of compensation to state governments in the event...
More »A Bellyful Of Proposals by Bhavdeep Kang
THE FLAGSHIP scheme of UPA II, the proposed National Food Security Act (NFSA), has become a policymaker’s nightmare. If suggestions by the Finance Ministry (reportedly at the instance of Congress President Sonia Gandhi) and the state governments are incorporated, the yearly food grain requirement would be close to 80 million tonnes. But considering food grain procurement in an average year is 40 to 41 million tonnes — half the amount...
More »Food Act may cost govt Rs 63k cr every year by Rajeev Deshpande
If Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s indication that 35 kg of foodgrain a family and the Tendulkar committee estimate of 8.3 crore BPL households could be the basis of the national food security Act, then the government’s bill adds up to a staggering Rs 63,750 crore a year. At 25 kg a BPL family, it is slightly less at Rs 54,200 crore, which is roughly the food subsidy...
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