The report, which was submitted to the apex court on March 19, 2021, was made public on Monday. The three-member committee had also suggested many changes in the laws, including giving freedom to states to make Minimum Support Price (MSP) system legal.
The leaders later submitted to the government, what they said, were over 5 crore signatures collected during a two-month long nationwide campaign on these demands. The signatures on the charter of demands were delivered on a truck.
India's monstrous public distribution system ensured that the government, and not private players, became a huge hoarder of food grains.
Some UTs to start from April 1 and other transfers to be launched from January.
About 110 tonnes had been loaded additionally in the 55 goods wagons.
The government on Tuesday approved the revised Food Security Bill to provide for uniform 5 kg of foodgrains per month per person at a highly subsidised price of Rs 1 to 3 per kg to two-thirds of the country's population.
In order check irregularities, Bihar has decided to introduce biometric cards in the Public Distribution System, officials said on Monday.
A much stronger focus was required on irrigation and water management. The FM merely acknowledged that it was a problem.
The Unique Identifiaction Authority of India is expediting creation of platforms for implementing the model, likely to include coverage of the Public Distribution System and other areas of subsidy, and also government's social sector schemes.
From social engineering to bearing the cost of COVID-19 treatment to financial reconstruction of Tamil Nadu's debt the debutant chief minister is emerging as a leader with a difference, says Shjne Jacob
India's first home-grown mapping company MapMyIndia is looking to list in the public market by raising around Rs 1,200 crore at a Rs 6,000-crore valuation. Sources said the company is ready with its draft red herring prospectus documents and is likely to file as early as next week. While the money will be used for business expansion, it will also give MapMyIndia's early investors, including Qualcomm, PhonePe, and Japanese mapmaker Zenrin Co., a chance to exit. The Verma family, which founded the company, will continue to remain promoters.
Earlier this week, the Empowered Group of Ministers approved the draft of the Food Security Bill, which will entitle 75 per cent of rural households and 50 per cent of urban households to subsidised foodgrain.
It will also end the below and above poverty line (BPL and APL) demarcation, prevailing in the current public distribution system.
The government data released on May 17 showed a minor dip in headline inflation to 8.66 per cent in April, driven by a moderation in food and manufactured items prices.
The West Bengal chief minister dished out a prescription to improve the economic condition of the state.
The working group on food and public distribution constituted under the chairmanship of Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia is likely to recommend using the numbers effectively for streamlining PDS.
Nilekani proposes centralised PDS network, model PDS software for transparency.
The central government on Friday stopped the doorstep delivery of ration scheme MMGGRY (Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojana) of the Delhi government, scheduled to be launched on March 25.
The state of Bihar will now monitor the public distribution system (PDS) through laptops to check corruption and to provide help to those living below poverty line (BPL), to get their monthly quota of essential commodities including food grain and kerosene oil, officials said.
The fiscal deficit, estimated at 4.6 per cent of the gross domestic product, is expected to be around 5.6 per cent, mainly on account of factors like subdued revenue collection, poor disinvestment receipts, high global commodity prices and increasing subsidy bill.
State links PDS to UID to plug leakages in food supplies but gaps remain.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday urged the states to strengthen PDS to enable the government insulate the poor from the adverse impact of inflation.
Officials said the Centre would have to bear an additional subsidy burden of Rs 4,161 crore this financial year, if this proposal was implemented.
Former Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Gegong Apang was arrested by the Special Investigation Cell on Tuesday for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore public distribution system scam.
Measures announced in the past such as an export ban on onions, pulses, edible oil and non-basmati rice will continue. Restriction on the export of more commodities would be imposed, if required.
The 12-digit unique number that the UIDAI will generate will be combined with the the smart card project of the Oil Ministry for distribution of PDS kerosene and domestic LPG through biometric identification of beneficiaries.
The conference was to launch a pilot scheme on smart card-based delivery of essential commodities under the targeted PDS in Haryana and Chandigarh.
This Budget, the finance ministry may consider a proposal for a seed fund that would provide financial support to states willing to sell items other than foodgrain, sugar and kerosene through the public distribution system (PDS). The move, experts believe, will help reigning in food inflation that remains in double digits, despite moderation.
'Agri reforms need to go beyond the limited concerns of these three laws in improving agriculture productivity in cereal and crop diversification and production patterns.'
The petroleum minister's three-pronged approach does little to address the real issues of fuel diversion and adulteration, say experts.
The special investigation cell of the Arunachal Pradesh police on Tuesday arrested former state chief minister and senior Congress leader Gegong Apang from Itanagar in connection with Rs 1,000 crore Public Distribution System scam.
Eleven people, including three senior officials of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, were arrested in two separate cases this year for allegedly harassing and threatening those who sought details under the Right to Information Act.
Trade union leaders in the pre-Budget consultation with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday demanded reigning in prices of essential items and increasing exemption limit on income tax to Rs 2 lakh (Rs 200,000).
The ban on onion export is temporary and will be reviewed every two weeks until its prices decline below Rs 15 per kg.
The demand for cash transfers was highest in Bihar at 54 per cent, followed by 34 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and 22 per cent in Jharkhand, where the access to PDS foodgrain was found limited.
On the complaint of shortage of foodgrain, the minister said lifting of foodgrain by states/Union Territories under TPDS and other welfare schemes has been less than the allocation made to them.
To check price rise, the government is importing some of the commodities to bridge the supply-demand gap and strengthening mechanism for providing subsidised items to poor, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday.
Concerned over rising food prices, planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday pitched for increasing supplies through imports and better use of the public distribution system.
A Right to Information activist who was in the forefront in exposing corruption in Public Distribution System, foodgrain and fuel distribution in the Marathwada region has been found dead in Nanded.
Despite the increase, at Rs 64.32 per litre ATF costs less than petrol and diesel.
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