New Delhi: Congress top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, on Friday deliberated on the way ahead on the issue of Food Security Bill.
All options were considered, was the response of party sources who said no decision has been taken about the future course of action on the ambitious legislation as also on the Land Acquisition Bill.
Food Minister KV Thomas was specially invited to the deliberations amid talk that the party could even consider convening a special session of Parliament for the purpose. The Law Ministry had recently told the Food Ministry during inter-ministerial consultations that without the list of intended beneficiaries with state governments in place and setting up of a redressal mechanism, an ordinance should not be promulgated as it would make the proposed law meaningless.
The Food Bill aims to give legal right to a uniform quantity of 5 kg foodgrains at a fixed price of Rs 1-3 per kg via ration shops to 67 per cent of the population. The annual food subsidy will increase to Rs 1.2 lakh crore from the existing Rs 85,000-90,000 crore after implementation of the proposed law....
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09:28 PM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is committed to enacting the Food Security Bill after considering all opinions, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday. "The Food Security Bill is a very important legislation for the government. The UPA is committed to make this law after considering all opinions," he told reporters here. Corruption, he said, was a major issue in the country and all sections of society...
04:59 PM, May 08, 2013
New Delhi: A war of words broke out between the Congress and the opposition over the National Food Security Bill that the government tried its best to debate in the Lok Sabha and get passed on Monday. The opposition continued to disrupt the house over the coal blocks allocation issue as Food Minister KV Thomas moved the bill, saying it was a key UPA legislation that would give the right...
04:05 AM, May 07, 2013
New Delhi: The government which introduced amendments to the landmark Food Security Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday could not get it passed as opposition stalled proceedings in the House over killing of Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan and other issues. Food Minister KV Thomas moved amendments to the National Food Security Bill, which was originally introduced in Parliament in December 2011, but no discussion on it could take place...
06:42 PM, May 02, 2013
New Delhi: South-west monsoon rains are expected to be "satisfactory" barring some states in South India, Food Minister KV Thomas said on Friday ahead of an official forecast later in the day. "We have an assessment of monsoon. Monsoon will be quite satisfactory in India except the southern tip - Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu," Food Minister KV Thomas told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Delhi. Monsoon...
02:08 PM, Apr 26, 2013
New Delhi: Millions of people in Maharashtra are at serious risk of hunger after two years of low rainfall, coupled with poor management of water resources, have left dams empty, farmland parched and cattle emaciated, aid agencies warned on Thursday. Maharashtra -- one of the country's biggest producers of sugar, pulses, cotton and soybeans -- is reeling from the worst drought in more than four decades after receiving less than...
06:20 AM, Apr 13, 2013
Mumbai: Shares of sugar producers, including Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd, surged on Friday after the government took steps to remove curbs on domestic sugar supplies. India will no longer force mills to sell sugar to the government at a discount and will not limit the amount they can sell in the open market, Food Minister KV Thomas said on Thursday. Shree Renuka shares jumped 6.8 per cent as of 9:25...
12:08 PM, Apr 05, 2013
New Delhi: In what could be seen as a significant concession to the powerful sugar lobby, the government on Thursday cleared the decontrol of the product. The move will likely raise the sugar prices as decontrol means that the manufacturers of the product will now get to decide on the prices without government intervention. The move will also mean increased expenditure for the government as it provides sugar to the...
08:09 PM, Apr 04, 2013
New Delhi: The government will enact the proposed right to food bill, covering 67 per cent of the population, in the second half of the budget session from April 22-May 10, 2013, Food Minister KV Thomas said in New Delhi on Wednesday. "We will pass the bill in the second half of the budget session," Thomas told a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) meet on "India's food security and the...
05:33 AM, Apr 04, 2013
The union cabinet will take up the revised National Food Security Bill on Monday, Food Minister KV Thmoas said on Friday. "We have circulated the note. The bill will be taken up by the cabinet on Monday," Thomas told IANS. ...
03:50 AM, Mar 16, 2013
Racing against the time, the government will consider major amendments to the Food Security Bill in a special Cabinet meeting likely to be held on Monday next week. "We are trying to bring revised Food Security Bill in the Cabinet on Monday (March 18). The note has been circulated," Food Minister KV Thomas said on the sidelines of an event. ...
10:16 PM, Mar 14, 2013
India's offer of an extra 5 million tonnes of wheat for export direct to private traders is at too high a price, traders said, undermining its own efforts to avoid rotting stocks and make room for the new harvest. ...
04:38 AM, Mar 08, 2013
India needs a 200 billion rupee top-up for its proposed food security bill, aimed at ensuring subsidised grain for the poor, Food Minister KV Thomas said on Thursday, even as the government is seeking deep spending cuts. ...
12:59 AM, Feb 15, 2013
India needs an additional Rs 200 billion to implement its proposed Food Security Bill, Food Minister KV Thomas told reporters on February 14. ...
01:03 PM, Feb 14, 2013
New Delhi: Government may consider "minor adjustments" on the LPG cylinder cap in the wake of pressure from within the Congress and Trinamool Congress's decision to withdraw support to the UPA. Sources said that while there is no question of rollback of the government's decision to put a cap on the number of subsidized cylinders, the government was ready for minor adjustments on it and can increase the total number...
11:49 PM, Sep 18, 2012
New Delhi: A section of the Congress party is also against diesel peice hike and cap on subsidised LPG cylinders. After Food Minister KV Thomas, another Union Minister has publicly demanded an increase in the cap on LPG cylinders. Union Minister of State, Parliamentary Affairs, Agriculture and Food Processing Industries, Harish Rawat wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday morning asking that subsidies on LPG cylinders be raised. Thomas...
02:16 PM, Sep 18, 2012
New Delhi: Food Minister KV Thomas has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh against LPG cap and diesel price hike. The decision to raise diesel price as well as to keep number of subsidised cooking cylinder at six a year will not go well with the middle class, he said in the letter. He said the government should charge only Rs 50 extra for consumers seeking between 7 to 12...
09:40 PM, Sep 17, 2012
New Delhi: Monsoon deficiency is expected to narrow down in the coming days with rains likely to improve in the eastern, central and Indo-Gangetic parts of the country, India Meteorological Department said on Thursday. "As of now, deficiency is 22 per cent. The deficiency will fill up in the coming days, as monsoon is likely to improve in the eastern, central and Indo-Gangetic plains," IMD Director General LS Rathore told...
12:48 PM, Jul 26, 2012
New Delhi: Food Minister KV Thomas is expected to announce on Thursday steps such as sale of surplus wheat and rice through rations shops and open market to tackle any food price rise in the wake of drought-like situation in some parts of the country. The Food Ministry is also considering relaunching sale of imported pulses and cooking oils through public distribution system (PDS) with increased subsidy. Thomas is expected...
06:51 PM, Jul 25, 2012
New Delhi: With deficient monsoon rains throughout the country so far, experts have now warned that the drought situation can no longer be ignored and that it is the time to act. Food Minister KV Thomas admitted on Tuesday that the situation is worrisome and that the government will have to take measures to check hoarding as deficient rainfall will lead to crop failure. Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices...
01:22 PM, Jul 24, 2012
