The Planning Commission’s latest affidavit to the Supreme Court in the right to food case reveals it has not taken the court’s advice to revise the thresholds and spending that determine the poverty line, although the commission admits to spiralling food costs and inflation. The affidavit was filed in a public interest litigation being pursued by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, which wants the government’s threshold of Rs. 12 and...
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Spend Rs 32 a day? Govt says you can't be poor by Dhananjay Mahapatra & Nitin Sethi
The Planning Commission told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that anyone spending more than Rs 965 per month in urban India and Rs 781 in rural India will be deemed not to be poor. Updating the poverty line cut-off figures, the commission said those spending in excess of Rs 32 a day in urban areas or Rs 26 a day in villages will no longer be eligible to draw benefits...
More »Govt readies draft of food security bill
-The Times of India The government has finally released the draft of the National Food Security Bill, and has put it up for comments till end of September. Only 46% of people in rural India and 28% in urban India will get 7 kg of foodgrain every month. Another 29% of those in rural India and 22% in urban India will be provided 3 kg of foodgrain per person. Grains to...
More »The PDS in Rural Orissa: Against the Grain? by Ankita Aggarwal
A report from a sample survey of the functioning of the public distribution system in 12 villages in two districts in Orissa, a state usually associated with a poor PDS. While there are errors in exclusion and inclusion of households covered, there has been a vast improvement in operation of the PDS; below the poverty line households seem to be receiving their entitlements. The households also express a strong preference...
More »Fuzzy movement by Prabhat Patnaik
The Anna Hazare movement demands no activism from its followers, not even a clear understanding of the specific demands. “COMBATING corruption”, like “promoting peace”, can mean anything to anyone; and precisely because of this “fuzziness” it appeals to everyone. Some join the anti-corruption movement because they are against “corporate loot”; others join because they are against the Nehru-Gandhi “dynasty”; and still others join because they oppose the “corrupt practice of...
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