The National Advisory Council's recommendations on the National Food Security Bill are in danger of being brushed aside. It is the fate of most advisory committees that the government accepts whatever advice suits its purposes and ignores the rest. The first version of the National Advisory Council (NAC-1) managed to avoid that fate to some extent, due to favourable circumstances. NAC-1 was able to persuade the government to enact the...
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Prashant Bhushan, senior lawyer interviewed by Sheela Bhatt
Since the last few years, Prashan Bhushan, senior lawyer, has fired up the Indian political scene through his missionary legal practice.In the legal fraternity he is a loner because he is, always, on the wrong side of the power set up in New Delhi. In fact, when one meets the slow and soft-speaker, he hardly looks like a lawyer who is capable of shaking-up the government and its cronies.But, his...
More »Scams deprive poor of health care, education: Pitroda
The Rs. 1.76 lakh-crore 2G spectrum scam has deprived the 400 million people below the poverty line (BPL) of their rightful share in healthcare and education, said Adviser to Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations Sam Pitroda.Addressing the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) convention here on Friday, Mr. Pitroda said freedom from poverty was not possible with scams siphoning off resources.Mr. Pitroda was conferred the INAE Lifetime...
More »Keeping millions undernourished by Biswajit Dhar
International prices of most agricultural commodities are on the rise again. Prices of major food crops have increased disconcertingly, with wheat, rice, maize and soybean registering double-digit increases between June and October. Wheat prices increased alarmingly by more than 71%, while maize recorded a more than 50% spike. The Food Price Index released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the most widely accepted barometer for food prices, also painted...
More »Ministry for merging BPL, caste censuses by Ruhi Tewari & Sangeeta Singh
In a move that might put the Union government in conflict with the states, the ministry of rural development has recommended merging the census to identify below poverty line (BPL) families with the caste census to accelerate the process of determining the number of poor, according to a person familiar with the matter. The caste census, conducted by the Registrar General of India, or RGI, is due to begin on 1...
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