New Delhi Officials of the food, agriculture and finance ministries will meet the state and central ministers concerned in a bid to thrash out objections raised by the states over the proposed Food Security Bill. The two-day conference that begins on Wednesday will also take up the creation of additional infrastructure for grain storage.

New Delhi: Nandan Nilekani’s UID or Aadhar has been snubbed again, this time by the food and public distribution ministry. The ministry has ignored the Nilekani taskforce report making UID central to information technology reforms in the public distribution system and has instead proposed its own system through the National Informatics Centre. A taskforce chaired by Nilekani had been set up by a group of ministers headed by Pranab Mukherjee to lay out the technology reforms required in delivering subsidies directly under the PDS.

New Delhi The 2012-13 Budget may not have to provide as big a jump in the food subsidy bill as expected earlier. This is because of a series of measures initiated by the government to cut wastage and improve efficiency, food minister KV Thomas has said.

The measures that would bring down the need for funds include the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and the setting up of modern grain storage facilities, which have helped increase supply chain efficiencies.

New Delhi: In an extraordinary effort at resolving policy disputes, the Union food ministry pleaded before the Supreme Court on Thursday to order the Planning Commission to release funds for reforms in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and to order the rural
development ministry to provide details of how many people in the category of poorest of poor had been left out of PDS.

The Union ministry of food and consumer affairs proposes to insert a new clause in the fresh discussion note for the Cabinet on allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail. The Cabinet had decided to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail in November, but had put the move in abeyance, owing to political opposition.

Price unchanged since 2002; 6.52 cr poor to be affected if price increased to . 17.5 a kg. The food ministry has proposed a 30% increase in the price of sugar sold in ration shops to reduce the food subsidy bill. This will raise the monthly bill of over 6.52 crore poor families who purchase sugar from these shops.
According to the proposal, the government should charge . 17.5 a kg, up from . 13.5. The decision, to be taken by the Cabinet, is likely after elections.

Wary of the National Food Security Bill meeting the fate of the Lokpal Bill, the Centre appears to have set a target of August 15 to unveil the law, with the hope that a political way out would be found to bring the Trinamul Congress and other opponents on board for which moves are afoot.

Government to take states on board over food bill

Still nursing the sting of ally Trinamool Congress opposing the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha citing issues of federal autonomy, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government wants to take the states into confidence on Sonia Gandhi's dream project - the National Food Security Bill, 2011.

KOCHI: The National Food Security Bill will be presented in the Budget session of Parliament, said Union Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs K V Thomas. At a press conference in Kochi on Monday, Thomas said that the Union Government plans to keep a two-year buffer food stock.

He said he would hold discussions with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on its objections to the National Food Security Bill. The bill was prepared after discussions with various states. Tamil Nadu came up with its objections at a later stage.

New Delhi The agriculture sector performed exceedingly well in 2011, with record grain production of over 240 million tonnes giving enough leeway for the government to lift a ban on exports of wheat and non-basmati rice and introduce the food security bill in Parliament. Farmers’ long-standing demand for crop loans at a 4% rate of interest was met during the year, although with a rider that the facility would be available to onlythose farmers that pay their crop loans on time.