The Andhra Pradesh government has re-launched the Rs 2-a-kg rice scheme for below-poverty-line (BPL) families in the State from Wednesday, coinciding with Ugadi, the Telugu New Year Day that was celebrated two days ago. Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy formally inaugurated the scheme at Jadcharla in backward Mahbubnagar district on Wednesday.
C Rangarajan, chairman of the economic advisory council to the prime minister, has called for revisiting subsidies, dividend distribution tax and tax exemptions.
The Centre has begun consulting states on implementing its Rs 3 per kg rice/wheat scheme for the poor, but discussions got stuck on what would be the basis for defining the beneficiaries.
In what could lead to an overhaul of policy, the Union government is looking at a new sugar subsidy mechanism as part of its decontrol proposal. It plans to rope in state governments for the purchase and distribution of sugar to below-poverty-line consumers at market prices.
Norms flouted, non-BPL families cornered grants, say rural development ministry's reports.
The survey took the poverty line at Rs 356 per person per month in rural areas and at Rs 538 in urban areas for 2004-05.
The party also promised to would provide salt at 25 paise per kg to BPL families, state unit president Raghuvar Das said while releasing the manifesto in the presence of Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh. Construction of three lakh houses to be allotted to those not having accommodation and ration cards to every family within three months was also among the promises held out.
While India boasts of its nuclear strength, 600 million people are still living in darkness, 150 million do not have access to health clinics and farmers' suicides make it to the pages of newspapers now and then, Tharoor said at a 'Face To Face' programme organised by Bengal Initiative, a conclave of front-runners in different fields of the state, on Sunday night.
Sudama Mahto has been accused of distributing the cards to favour an electoral candidate.
While data can empower communities, it reinforces identities, making local politics more caste-centric, with decisions increasingly contested on the grounds of representation.
Such dynamics could lead to shifting alliances and, in the worst case, local governance getting paralysed as each group demands proportional power-sharing, explain Amitabh Kundu and Mehebub Rahaman.
The party has charged Lalu with being involved in forestalling a vigilance probe into a scam in the purchase and supply of blankets worth about Rs 40 crore for below poverty line families in Bihar in the winter of 2002-2003.
Addressing the 28th Annual Convention of vice-chancellors of the Indian Agriculture Universities Association in Srinagar, Sinha said this would be possible with the successful implementation of the roadmap formulated for the purpose.
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The Left Front government in West Bengal would try to distribute 1.53 crore Below Poverty Line cards in the state.
A survey conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation has revealed that 51 per cent or more than half of India's rural households (marginal farmers possessing less than 1,076 square feet of land) have no ration card at all.
Govt to harness Delhi's private hospitals to cover 3 lakh Delhiites falling under the poverty line.
The report said the global economy will lose $12 trillion or more by the end of 2021 despite spending of $18 trillion in trying to stimulate growth around the world.
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The CPI(M) on Thursday slammed the Planning Commission estimates on poverty levels in the country, saying these made "a mockery of life and death struggles" of the people, amidst continuous rise in prices and "massive" slashing of subsidies for the poor.
The chief minister met Shah on Wednesday night and held discussions regarding the supply of rice to the state, for its Anna Bhagya scheme, which provides an additional 5 kg of rice for each member of below poverty line families.
Economist Abhijit Sen, a former Planning Commission member and one of the country's foremost experts on rural economy, died on Monday night. He was 72.
The implementation of the five 'guarantees' announced by the Congress may cost the state exchequer an estimated Rs 50,000 crore annually.
'Maharashtra is virtually in a debt trap.'
The construction sector is now India's second-largest employer after agriculture, the trend coinciding with India's high-growth phase and decline in poverty levels
In the manifesto for the polls released in Bengaluru by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in the presence of the state unit chief D K Shivakumar and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah and others, the party reiterated its five guarantees: Gruha Jyothi, Gruha Lakshmi, Anna Bhagya, Yuva Nidhi and Shakti.
Against predictions by most exit polls that the ruling Congress had an edge in the state, the BJP banked heavily on the charisma of the PM.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said his prime focus is to uplift the lot of 70 crore-strong working class engaged in the country's unorganised sector.
Free 35 kg rice a month, free power supply to farmers, crop loans to peasants at zero per cent interest rate are among the sops promised by Congress in its manifesto for Chhattisgarh assembly elections scheduled this month.
A substantial number of castes and groups are already placed in the reserved category, getting about 52 per cent of reservations altogether. It would be completely inequitable to place the Maratha community in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, it said.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the five-member committee to convene its first meeting within a week and reach out to the agitating farmers to persuade them to immediately remove their tractors, trolleys etc from the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana to provide relief to commuters.
Ahead of the upcoming elections, political parties have started announcing incentives to benefit women, but what do women truly seek for genuine gender parity, asks Nivedita Mookerji.
Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said criteria and frameworks are being decided for its implementation.
In the three months leading up to the Assembly elections, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's government distributed over 1.4 million tonnes (MT) of wheat, 0.95 MT of rice, 0.10 MT of chana (gram), 101.9 million litres of soybean oil and 100,000 tonnes of salt as free ration. This was part of the Covid relief package, officials said.
The announcement was made in advertisements published by the state's information and public relations department in various newspapers on Saturday.
Bedi's order however drew flak from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislature wing leader A Anbalagan, who told reporters that Bedi was treading the path of 'autocracy' by issuing such directives.
Facing difficulty in procuring large quantities of rice required to fulfil its poll guarantee, the state government on Wednesday decided to pay cash into the beneficiaries' accounts at the rate of Rs 34 per kilo, for the additional 5kg of rice under the free rice scheme.
The move is being planned with a view to ensuring that the benefits provided by the government reach the beneficiaries and the process remains transparent.
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