The sale of foodgrains through the public distribution system to poor families throughout the country at highly subsidised prices is stinking of corruption, hoarding and black marketing, the Supreme Court appointed central vigilance committee said in its damning reports. After touring various states and scrutinising the operation of PDS system through fair price shops, the committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice D P Wadhwa used following terminology for...

The Centre will set up a Central Food Security Fund to monetarily compensate the Below Poverty Line (BPL) beneficiaries of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) who fail to get the proposed mandatory 25 kilograms of wheat or rice per family per month at a subsidised rate of Rs. 3 per kg. The compensation would be at the economic cost of the foodgrains so that an entitled beneficiary can buy grains...

Political influence and interference hampering distribution, says court-appointed vigilance panel  Large-scale diversion of foodgrains; black marketing by fair price shop dealers All-round complicity among FPS, transporters and corrupt Civil Supplies officials The Supreme Court-appointed Central Vigilance Committee (CVC) has slammed the Public Distribution System as one of the most corrupt sectors, saying the root cause of its failure in several States is political interference. “Corruption is all pervasive in the entire chain involved...

IN GREEN-LIGHTING the new “nutrient- based” fertiliser policy, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee pulled off a political coup, overriding the objections of the once-powerful UPA allies, DMK and NCP. What’s more, it is those very critics who will be responsible for the actual delivery of benefits to farmers under the new scheme — which is a tall order. With Mamata Banerjee’s TMC putting in only a token caveat, the reservations of Union...

PUNE: Bandya Pashte, 28, has been cultivating paddy on his family’s five-acre plot in village Veravli in the Konkan, Maharashtra’s coastal strip for about a decade. Last year, though, he threw in the towel because farming is not remunerative and lacks social status. Bandya has since migrated to the city to work as a driver, earning more than he did as a farmer. While Bandya is unaware of the National...