Government to promote its use to tackle anaemia Food Department to examine the possibility of supplying DFS through PDS Ministries of Women and Child Development and Health to launch media campaign The Union government will promote the use of iron fortified iodised salt (double fortified salt) to battle anaemia, one of the major causes of malnutrition, particularly among women and children. To begin with, the Ministries dealing with food and nutrition programmes such as...

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has pulled up the state government for its failure to ensure the supply of quality ration to the people. In its annual report, the CAG said there was no testing laboratory or trained manpower for conducting quality inspection of the foodgrains supplied through the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the state. “The PDS (Control) Order, 2001, envisages that the representatives of the Consumer Affairs...

Amid technical and infrastructural constraints, Maharashtra has rolled out 1.2 million Aadhaars, but the beneficiaries have been able to make little use of these numbers Ashok Bhil, a 25-year-old graduate from Navalpur, 7 Km from Tembhli, is disappointed with the way the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is rolling out Aadhaar in Maharashtra. Last September, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government chose Tembhli, a small village in the predominantly tribal Nandurbar...

DEALS WITH MULTINATIONALS AND OTHER BIG AGRIBUSINESS COMPANIES A wide range of farmers’ organisations, Gandhian organisations, people’s movements and NGOs have united to oppose a series of disturbing agreements which the Rajasthan Government reached with various multinational and other agribusiness companies including Monsanto. These agreements, which greatly increase the control and influence of these companies over the agriculture sector in India’s biggest State (in terms of area), have proved so controversial...

An inter-ministerial group set up by the government to keep a watch on inflation and suggest measures has reiterated the need to revise the mandi law that prevents competition among buyers for farm produce. The group headed by chief economic advisor Kaushik Basu said the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act needed to be revised to encourage competition among traders and promote efficiency in retailing. Kishore Biyani , Chairman, Future Group...