Greater Noida: Noble laureate Amratya Sen on Saturday said it is unfortunate that government has not been able to push through the Food Security Bill that sought to provide subsidised foodgrains to people below poverty line.
"It is unfortunate that we are not able to pass the Food Security Bill because Parliament is not able to meet", he said during a seminar at the ADB annual meet here. He further said the country needs to set its priority right and focus on the real issues concerning the people. "We have to think about getting our priorities right," Sen said.
The government, which had introduced Food Security Bill in the Lok Sabha in 2011, could not get it passed with the opposition stalling the proceedings in the House over some issue or the other. The proposed Food Bill, the UPA Government's ambitious social welfare programme, aims to provide legal right over subsidised foodgrains to 67 per cent of the population.
It seeks to provide a provide uniform allocation of 5 kg foodgrains (per person) at fixed rate of of Rs 3 (rice), Rs 2 (wheat) and Rs 1 (coarse grains) per kg to 67 per cent of the country's population. At the proposed coverage of entitlement, total estimated annual foodgrains requirement is 61.23 million tonnes and is likely to cost the exchequer Rs 1,24,724 crore....
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08:58 PM, May 04, 2013
Bangkok: India on Monday said that with continuous and concerted efforts, people living below poverty line will be down to 26.7 per cent by 2015, but improving sanitation facilities in the country still remains a challenge. The visiting Minister of State for Commerce and Industry of India, Dr Dagubatti Purandeswari told the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) meet here that for a country...
02:35 PM, Apr 29, 2013
The Cabinet has cleared the UPA's gamechanger Food Security Bill. The revised Bill was cleared by the Cabinet without any further changes. The Food Security Bill seeks to provide for uniform 5 kg of foodgrains per month per person at a highly subsidised price of Rs 1-3 per kg to two-thirds of the country's population. ...
05:30 PM, Mar 19, 2013
New Delhi: A new committee will be set up to reassess poverty estimates, according to sources. The committee is to be set up by the Planning Commission. An announcement is likely to made at 4 pm on Thursday. The government has been facing flak over what exactly constitutes poverty and what are the factors that decide the poverty line. This came after the Planning Commission said that the poverty in...
02:30 PM, Mar 22, 2012
New Delhi: The Planning Commission's latest report on poverty rates declining has raised a storm in Parliament. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded a reply from the government in the Rajya Sabha on the latest numbers. The Planning Commission on Monday said that the poverty in India has come down in the country during the 2009-2010 period. According to its latest report, the Commission said more than 8 per...
11:28 AM, Mar 20, 2012
New Delhi: The Planning Commission has backed down after fixing Rs 32 for urban areas and Rs 26 per day for rural areas as the poverty line in an affidavit in the Supreme Court. The Commission said that the cap will not apply for government schemes for the poor. Now, a new Socio Economic Census will decide beneficiaries of public distribution system. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who...
09:00 PM, Oct 03, 2011
New Delhi: A day after he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Planning Commission Dy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia will meet Rural Development Min Jairam Ramesh on Monday on the per capita Below Poverty Line (BPL) cap. This will be the first meeting after the controversial affidavit, which was endorsed by the Prime Minister was filed in the Supreme Court. The matter will come up in the court on October 11....
07:33 AM, Oct 03, 2011
New Delhi: The Planning Commission is set to revise the Below Poverty Line (BPL) figure after the raging controversy over the Rs 32 per capita per day poverty line definition. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Sunday met the Prime Minister for the first time since the controversy first erupted. They discussed the Plan panel's affidavit which says that those who earn more than Rs 32 in cities...
09:05 PM, Oct 02, 2011
onight at 10 pm, Sagarika Ghose asks a panel of experts whether an individual can live on Rs 32 a day in urban India?
01:14 PM, Sep 21, 2011
New Delhi: The Planning Commission on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the below poverty line (BPL) population in the country is 40.74 crore and the poverty line for the urban and rural areas could be provisionally placed at Rs 965 per capita per month (around Rs 32 per day) and Rs 781 per capita per month (around Rs 26 per day), respectively. The Planning Commission in an affidavit said...
07:59 AM, Sep 21, 2011
New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has suggested the formation of a separate and independent commission to identify Below Poverty Line (BPL) beneficiaries under the proposed food security law. He said the Commission should work independently like the Election Commission, which would help both the state and Central Governments in identifying the real BPL beneficiaries. "I suggest the formation of an independent commission which should regularly identify the BPL...
01:43 PM, Sep 16, 2011
Thiruvananthapuram: The Left Front government in Kerala is set to announce an ambitious programme where rice for all would be offered at Rs 2 per kg, according to state Finance Minister Thomas Issac. Currently rice for Rs 2 is available to only those who are listed in the below poverty line category. For other card holders, the price is Rs 9 per kg. Speaking to IANS, Issac Tuesday confirmed reports...
11:57 PM, Feb 22, 2011
![Draft of food security law gets NAC's nod]( "Draft of food security law gets NAC's nod")
The NAC has also recommended that 35 kg of foodgrain be supplied per month at Rs 3 a kg to disadvantaged people. ...
11:18 PM, Jul 14, 2010
20 lakh families have been issued smart cards since April 2008. ...
04:46 PM, Feb 09, 2009
UPA announces its biggest social sector scheme after NREGS. ...
10:23 PM, Oct 01, 2007
A Cabinet minister in Bihar's Nitish Kumar Government figures in the list of people living below poverty line. ...
12:16 PM, Nov 13, 2006
