NAC for food security in one-fourth of districts, for now
The National Advisory Council has decided to make initial recommendations that could be implemented by the end of 2010, without waiting for the Food Security Bill to be finalised and legislated
Some Indian states poorer than Africa's poorest
Eight Indian states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal together account for more poor people than the 26 poorest African nations combined, a new ‘multidimensional’ measure of global poverty has revealed
Poverty rate in India will dip to 24% by 2015
The number of poor people in India is expected to halve by 2015, according to a United Nations 2010 Millennium Development Goals report
Gujarat launches India's first micronutrient-mix food programme
Introducing micronutrient pre-mix for 44,000 anganwadis across the state, the Gujarat government aims to improve the health of malnourished children with a diet that comprises a pre-mix of soybean, cereals and pulses containing 18-20% protein and 600 gram kilocalories
Mud for meals: Supreme Court team slams Uttar Pradesh
In April 2010, media reports revealed acute hunger and deprivation in a village in Uttar Pradesh. Now, a Supreme Court inquiry team that visited the area finds the situation is indeed dire
Slum-dwellers send postcards to Sonia Gandhi on food security bill
The postcard campaign follows reports that the food security Bill that is awaiting passage in Parliament cuts the amount of foodgrain to be made available to below the poverty line families in the public distribution system and ignores above the poverty line families
India raises official poverty estimate
India’s Planning Commission has adopted the Suresh Tendulkar Committee’s methodology for poverty estimation, which includes spending on education and health, besides calorie intake, taking the number of the country’s poor to a whopping 37.2% from the 27.5% earlier estimated
New food guarantee scheme likely to be based on Tendulkar report
The Suresh Tendulkar panel report is likely to form the basis of a “reworked and realistic” food guarantee scheme. This was hinted at a recent meeting of the core group of chief ministers on price rise, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Rs 6,000 may be new threshold for economically weaker sections
Government surveys reveal that income levels have risen for those designated ‘economically weaker sections’. The government proposes revising the threshold limit for these sections from Rs 3,300 to Rs 6,000 a month
Economic Survey suggests replacing PDS with food coupons
India’s 2010 Economic Survey suggests doing away with food and fertiliser subsidies and providing the poor food coupons to exchange at market prices