-PTI Claiming flaws in the process of identifying beneficiaries of welfare schemes based on the Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) data, a group of parliamentarians, intellectuals and socials activists today appealed to the Centre to take corrective measures to provide benefits to the deserving lot. In a memorandum submitted to Union Rural Development Minister Birender Singh, the members picked flaws in the process of identifying welfare schemes beneficiaries. "The clearly stated aim...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: With onion prices continuing to be a worry for consumers, the Centre has raised the minimum export price (MEP) of the bulb to $700 per tonne. The MEP was last increased on June 26 this year to $425/tonne from $250/tonne. An official statement released by the Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry also said that the tender floated for onion imports will be opened on August 27....

-Hindustan Times New Delhi: A week after the Supreme Court delivered its interim order on use of Aadhaar numbers, the government on Thursday decided to continue seeding the identity numbers into the database of beneficiaries if people voluntarily shared the numbers. The government has also found a way to minimise the impact of the verdict on Aadhaar-linked schemes. The Supreme Court had, last week, restricted the government from using the Aadhaar number for...

-The Hindu The fact that food companies prosper but farmers commit suicide shows that profits are in the market, not the farm. It is time to replicate the Amul story many times over In the ongoing debates on the new land acquisition bill, the potential of agribusiness to address agrarian distress has not been explored. There are several domestic agriculture companies, both listed and private, that are doing extremely well amidst an...

-Outlook Even the worst-governed states can improve their PDS and ensure grain for the poorest. Look at Madhya Pradesh. THE National Food Security Act (NFSA),  2013, is not in very good health. Two years after it came into force, just a few states are implementing it. Others are still struggling with the identification of eligible households, public distribution system (PDS) reforms and other preparations. Yet, recent evidence suggests that some states...