Gurdaspur: The government might be trying hard to get its ambitious Food Bill passed in Parliament, but it is doing very little to improve storage infrastructure for foodgrains in the country.
With the monsoon lashing the fertile state of Punjab, precious foodgrains are set to rot because of the lack of storage facitilies. Thousands of bags of grain are lying in an open ground in Gurdaspur in Patiala district and farmers told CNN-IBN that the government is trying to sell them at half the price even though they don't look good for human consumption.
This has also led to the rise of prices of wheat in Punjab and Haryana as the market fears less supply of foodgrains this year. And in addition to the callous approach of the government towards creation of storage space for foodgrains, the other problem which exists is the poor quality of storage sacks.
"Condition this year is worse than last year. People are dying of hunger and grain is rotting like this. And we will be blamed in inquiries," Punjab Grains Procurement Corporation Inspector Kanwaljeet Singh said. ...
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10:24 AM, Jun 17, 2013
New Delhi: The ordinance on the ambitious Food Security Bill was discussed at the Congress Core Group meet on Friday. The meeting decided that Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and Food Minister KV Thomas will reach out to the opposition for consensus on the Bill. The Food Security Bill aims to provide 5 kg of foodgrain per person to 67 per cent of the population at subsidised prices. Under the...
08:54 PM, Jun 14, 2013
New Delhi: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has questioned the Central Government's ambitious plan to provide food security to the poor. Modi said Gujarat has a food security scheme in place for the last 10 years, but the Centre has woken up to it just now. Modi expressed doubts about the Centre's intentions on his twitter account. Modi tweeted that the poor people in Gujarat were being provided wheat at...
02:49 PM, Jun 13, 2013
New Delhi: The decision on Food Security ordinance was deferred on Thursday by the Union Cabinet as the government said it wanted to make one more effort to get the Opposition on board. But sources say the decision to defer the ordinance was taken because Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the Samajwadi Party must be brought on board over the issue. Both UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh...
12:37 PM, Jun 13, 2013
New Delhi: While the Congress is pushing hard for the Food Security ordinance, the Public Distribution System remains in shambles and foodgrains are still rotting in several states. CNN-IBN has been reporting on the crisis since 2010, following up ground reports with RTIs. In 2010, CNN-IBN had reported on grains rotting from India's foodbowl Punjab. Bags of rotting grain in the fields of Punjab tell the story of the government's...
11:32 AM, Jun 13, 2013
Deoli: Even as the UPA pushes for its ambitious food security legislation, there has been little improvement when it comes to storage infrastructure for food grains. CNN-IBN on its visit to Deoli in Haryana for the third consecutive year has found out that 22,000 quintals of wheat, which was brought for storage in Deoli, has been decaying in sacks and has now been declared unfit for human consumption. In 2011,...
09:30 AM, Jun 13, 2013
New Delhi: Despite opposition from key ally, NCP leader and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, the UPA is set to push through the Food Security ordinance at the Cabinet meet on Thursday. If the Cabinet approves it, the ordinance will be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee. If the President signs it, then the ordinance will have to come into immediate effect. However, with a lot of ground work still pending, the...
07:30 AM, Jun 13, 2013
Food Minister KV Thomas on Wednesday told CNN-IBN that the government wanted to give a signal that it was serious about the ambitious Food Security Bill when asked whether promulgating an ordinance was the democratic way of enacting the UPA's game changing legislation, that envisions the right to food. Thomas also said that the tenure of the present government is limited to ten months and therefore, it is important to...
10:59 PM, Jun 12, 2013
New Delhi: At a time when the government is pushing hard for Food Security ordinance in Cabinet, the Bharatiya Janata Party said the government should wait for the Monsooon Session and the party is in favour of discussion on the Bill. BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said, "Let them bring the ordinance first, will react tomorrow. They should wait for the Parliament session. Congress in a hurry because it doesn't know...
03:33 PM, Jun 12, 2013
New Delhi: A deeply divided government is now ready to push for an ordinance on Food Security in Cabinet on Wednesday. This despite strong opposition coming in from key ally and NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Food Minister KV Thomas. But an ordinance is being seen as the only way out as the Congress is getting ready for a possible pullout by the SP soon. The Congress is getting prepared...
01:01 PM, Jun 12, 2013
New Delhi: The Cabinet is likely to consider on Thursday a proposal to promulgate an Ordinance for implementing the government's most ambitious Food bill. The Food Security bill, a pet project of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, was tabled in the Budget session of Parliament but could not be taken up for discussion due to pandemonium in the Lok Sabha over various scams. However, government is keen on issuing an Ordinance...
06:15 PM, Jun 11, 2013
New Delhi: Low-cost airline SpiceJet has been directed by a consumer forum here to pay Rs 15,000 as token compensation to its passenger for serving him non-vegetarian food instead of vegetarian preferred by him. The South West District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum held the airline deficient in service for mistakenly serving non-vegetarian sandwich instead of vegetarian, and also pulled up the complainant for claiming compensation of Rs 4.5 lakh, saying...
09:20 AM, Jun 09, 2013
Panaji: Insisting that it is not against the Food Security Bill, BJP on Saturday said Congress is making "baseless allegation" that the main opposition party is blocking the proposed law, even as it faulted the draft legislation on a "lot" of provisions. The party contended that it was not responsible for the failure of the Bill being taken up in the last Budget session, but the Congress' "adamant" approach to...
05:20 PM, Jun 08, 2013
New Delhi: No decision was taken on whether to bring an ordinance on UPA's pet legislation - Food Security - during Friday's core Congress meet. The bill is stuck in Parliament as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not allow it to be debated upon in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session, which ended May 8. The BJP wanted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to resign over the faulty allocations...
08:29 PM, Jun 07, 2013
Mumbai: Making it clear that he was not opposed to the National Food Security Bill, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday said he would prefer it to be approved by Parliament after a debate. "I am in favour of approving the food bill through discussion in Parliament, which is the highest forum," he told reporters. Pawar, who had earlier voiced apprehension that huge concessions on foograins could endanger food...
03:43 PM, Jun 07, 2013
Patna: BJP on Thursday asked UPA government to debate on Food Security Bill in and outside Parliament to plug loopholes in the draft of the proposed legislation. "UPA government should not take the route of ordinance to legislate on the food security bill and let a thorough discussion take place in Parliament and in public domain so that various loopholes in the draft legislation can be ironed out," BJP national...
04:58 PM, Jun 06, 2013
New Delhi: Suspense mounted over whether the government will promulgate an Ordinance on Food Security as it appeared hesitant to take this route amidst differences within the Cabinet as well as opposition from some allies and other parties. The government is keen on enacting this landmark law at the earliest but there are voices within it who disfavour the Ordinance route. The bill, a pet project of Congress chief Sonia...
10:14 PM, Jun 04, 2013
New Delhi: After revising the food tariff for all trains except premier services in 2012, Railways have firmed up a proposal to increase the rates of food served in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto. As per the proposal, the overall increase in food item would be higher for passengers travelling in AC-II, III and chair car categories, but would be minimum for AC-I. Passengers in premier trains - Rajdhani, Shatabdi and...
08:52 PM, Jun 04, 2013
New Delhi: The Cabinet on Tuesday cleared the Real Estate Regulator Bill, but did not take up the Food Security Bill, saying it will be discussed on Friday. Sources said the Congress is likely to push for an ordinance on the Food Security Bill, despite divisions within the government. While ministers like Kamal Nath want an ordinance, others such as Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar want the bill to be discussed...
07:35 PM, Jun 04, 2013
New Delhi: The government is divided over bringing an ordinance on the Food Security Bill, say sources. Meanwhile, the Law Ministry has approved an ordinance note but has questioned how beneficiaries will be determined. The Law Minister has sent a note to the Cabinet Secretary approving the ordinance. Some ministers like Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Food Minister KV Thomas want the Bill to be discussed in Parliament. While some...
12:36 PM, Jun 04, 2013
