Politicians, from the ruling party and opposition alike, are grappling with the problem of how to effectively communicate with their constituencies on the issue of high food inflation. One had thought it would be easy for the opposition to mount a campaign on rising prices against the ruling coalition, but it appears that inflation and its impact on the political economy is far more complex today than it was 10...

Indian Railways has come to Food Corporation of India’s (FCI) rescue in flood-hit Punjab and Haryana, where part of its Foodgrain Stocks have been rotting due to heavy rains. The national transporter has given a discount of 35% to the public sector food procurer to carry grains from northern India to other parts of the country. The railways also expects to boost its own revenue by transporting a large volume of...

Pawar asks FCI to take corrective measures Lack of godowns major problem With the proposed National Food Security Bill on the anvil, the Food Ministry has cracked the whip to eliminate damage to foodgrains stocks stored in the open, under monsoon conditions. Based on the findings of the Ministry's inspection team, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) on Wednesday suspended senior officials and sought explanation from top executives for improper handling of and...

Centre to notify revised poverty estimates to States soon The Union government will soon notify the revised poverty estimates on the basis of which States can undertake proper identification of beneficiaries under the public distribution system (PDS). This will include a massive exercise to include eligible beneficiaries and weed out the ineligible ones through use of biometric technology, which will replace the manual system of identification. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh...

The two-day Centre-state meet on revamping the public distribution system (PDS), with an eye to the likely enactment of the National Food Security Law, has harped on the same measures that have been talked about for long. These include the computerisation of PDS operations, timely delivery of stocks to PDS outlets, and proper identification of the beneficiaries, especially those entitled to the below-poverty-line (BPL) cards, based on the latest poverty...