Rural Development in India

[ramana]

Mansukhbahi Patel and his cotton ginning machine.

Mansukhbahi Patel's cotton stripping machine


Madanlal Kumawat's thresher!

M L Kumawat's Thresher

What is needed is a NGO of Engineers to provide technical assitance to the rural entreprenuers.

[joshvajohn]

Broadband to connect 2.5 lakh villages by 2010
Ruchika Chitravanshi / New Delhi November 16, 2010, 1:37 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... 10/414988/

Mass migration of farmers from Bharat to India a worrisome trend
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp ... RATION.asp

[RamaY]

One thing that need immediate fixing is Education system.

The city kids have added advantage when it comes to competitive exams. Recently they introduced some kind of quota for rural students in NITs and RECs, which is a good start.

[Theo_Fidel]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home ... 922559.cms

Underfed: The other young India

Six-year-old Vishal starts his day with a cup of tea and two biscuits bought from a pavement stall. Lunch is khichdi from a local charity. Vishal saves half of it to eat later in the afternoon. By night he's hungry again. His mother can afford just a small, Rs 5 packet of kurkure. That's all she has at the end of the day. It's another typically hard day in the life of this child who lives with his mother on the streets of Mumbai's Khar area.

Vishal manages to eat just 856 calories a day. That's roughly half the recommended intake.

Two-year-old Surja Basfore lives on Platform No 4 of Kalyani railway station in Kolkata. Breakfast is usually half a puri. Lunch is two handfuls of rice and dal. Dinner might be another couple of handfuls of rice and dal or it might be one roti. Surja lives with his five-year-old sister and his leprosy-afflicted father. They beg for a living, earning Rs 20 to Rs 25 every day between them. Surja and his sister mostly survive on food thrown away by railway passengers. They manage to eat just 1,000 calories between them.

It's the same story with six-year-old Priya. Breakfast is two plain dosas and a glass of watery milk. Sambhar or rasam with rice is lunch. She has a glass of tea in the evening. Dinner is curd rice with onions. Priya 'lives' with her family outside an electronic store in Panagal Park, a shopping district in Chennai. She manages to eat 1,410 calories a day, which is 300 calories short of what she should be getting at her age.

Vishal, Surja and Priya are some of the children whose 'food lives' were explored by Child, Relief and You (CRY), an NGO that works with children. Bidisha Fouzer of CRY says it's an exercise in putting faces and names to stark figures.

"Last month, when the Global Hunger Index report stated that 42% of all the undernourished children in the world live in India, we decided to put a face to this. We spoke to children in different life situations — from a street child to a child living in a tribal village — to put together a kind of diet diary of the poorest children. This was done to understand their dietary intake. The result was shocking. The children were getting by on as little as half their required calories. This is at a stage when nourishment is crucial to their development," she says.

India has more children than any other country in the world. At just over 365 million, India has more children than the total population of the US. Half of India's children are malnourished and in real terms it's as if Brazil, the fifth most populous country in the world, is underfed.

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), a scheme launched by the government in 1975, was meant to address the health and nutritional needs of women and children. But the high prevalence of child malnutrition is a severe indictment of it. The mid-day meal scheme, along with the ICDS and a strong public distribution system might have addressed the needs of chronically hungry children.

[joshvajohn]

In India, the World's Largest School Lunch Program

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... z15U8VW000

In much of rural India, hunger is still an everyday reality and often the only way out is debt-bondage…

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/11/14/sto ... 060300.htm

India: Hunger speaks the language of death
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1011/S ... -death.htm

In The Undeclared War Zone Of South Orissa
By Debaranjan Sarangi
http://www.countercurrents.org/sarangi161110.htm

No starvation death in India in last 3 years, says minister

“It is not true. It is a statement which does not reflect ground reality. The minister seems to be unconcerned. In the last two years, many cases of starvation have been reported in Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput belt of Orissa, and Uttar Pradesh. Even the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) report in 2008-09 reported starvation deaths in India,” he said.

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp ... vation.asp

[Vipul]

Here's the coverage on rural entrepreneurs from rediff.com:
http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-sh ... 101117.htm

[ramana]

Vipul Did you read the story about the cotton harvesting machine invented iby Mansukh Bhai Patel?

What it does is recovery of marignal short staple cotton which grows in arid regions of Gujarat. I wonder if that cotton can be grown in rainshed areas like Telangana and provide a cash crop for the farmers now that cotton pirces have shot up and will stay up due to global economy?

[joshvajohn]

Govt talks food security as huge amount of grains rot in FCI godowns
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main47.asp ... _talks.asp

Rotting Food in FCI godowns are not hypothetical but real!

Supreme Court seeks Attorney General’s reply over rotting food grain
29.10.2010 | 20:55
New Delhi
Upmanyu Trivedi
http://www.lawetalnews.com/NewsDetail.asp?newsid=2641

WILL FOOD SECURITY LAW SOON BE A REALITY FOR INDIANS?
http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnew ... leID=50998

Wasted foodgrain ends up as manure

NDTV Correspondent, Updated: October 29, 2010 10:18 IST


Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/waste ... e-63137?cp


FCI to auction wasted food-grain as manure
http://www.mynews.in/News/fci_to_auctio ... 04589.html

[ramana]

Cotton Growing in India

IKisan: Cotton growing history in India

GOI Site on Cotton growing;

http://india.gov.in/citizen/agriculture/cotton.php

Looks like V 797 in Gujarat grows in rainfed areas.

[joshvajohn]

Textile industry to go on nationwide strike on Friday
Dilip Kumar Jha / Mumbai November 17, 2010, 0:04 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... ay/415159/

Don't bow to intl. pressure, textile sector to govt.
http://smetimes.tradeindia.com/smetimes ... 15650.html


Cotton exporters run into trouble
Rajesh Bhayani / Mumbai November 16, 2010, 0:11 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... le/414936/


Bring cotton under Essential Commodities Act to prevent futures trading, says CPI (M)
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tam ... 894484.ece


Is this a war between Gujarat Cotton Producers who want more money by exporting outside the country and those textiles from South India who wanted to buy those cotton at low price to maintain their profits. If those cottons are not exported the farmers do not get the higher price or wasted while when the cotton is not there for textiles, Indian textile Industries will have to close down, possibly in future government income through export of garmerts will be lost (which is a large amount compared to exporting the cotton).

[ramana]

I think if India restricts the exports of cotton and yarn the world will see even higher prices.

[joshvajohn]

Satellite to help govt review cotton prospects, exports
Press Trust of India / New Delhi November 18, 2010, 17:46 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... /116432/on

Govt. unlikely to change decision on cotton export cap
http://smetimes.tradeindia.com/smetimes ... 19021.html


4K cr loss to Guj farmers due to raw cotton export ban: Govt
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 939091.cms


Textile makers squeezed by cotton crisis
http://www.just-style.com/comment/texti ... 09518.aspx


This is very similar to Sugar crisis. The textile industries has to see this as a correction in the market. As other prices go up cotton producers have to get a higher price which the textile industries have to pay and accordingly their international market price for the garmets will go up. Indian government should make sure that the textile industries have direct access to markets in Europe and other places. Indian investors should directly engage into the retail market in this area.

[joshvajohn]

India need not hunger for food, yet it does!

India is still hungry 63 years after it was freed from British colonial yoke. The Global Hunger Index places India at a poor 65 in the list with even China, though far more populous than its Asian neighbor, doing much better. While China has brought down the number of its hungry people by 58 million during the past decade, shockingly India’s number has risen by 30 million since the mid-1990s.
http://arabnews.com/opinion/columns/art ... mments=all

Contradictions in food policy
The Global Hunger Index places India below most Asian countries. But using this to call for more state intervention in food policy defies logic.
http://www.livemint.com/2010/11/1821012 ... y.html?h=B


High growth can't hide India's failures
NC Saxena, Hindustan Times
November 15, 2010
http://www.hindustantimes.com/High-grow ... 26776.aspx

Indians top Swiss bank's black money list
Swiss Bank
Building of UBS the Swiss Bank
Demands of bringing back Indian black money deposited at Swiss Bank have been raised in the past several times but it will get further boost with the latest revelation.

According to the Swiss Bank Association, Indians have topped the list of black money depositors at the famous Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS).
http://english.samaylive.com/nation-new ... -list.html

[Theo_Fidel]

Mr John,

How about posting some solutions as well.

This is a discussion forum not BR news.

Lets start with TN that you appear to be familiar with.
There is no shortage of grain, we have PDS on every street, small families, Re 1 rice as needed yet..

Why does Mal-Nutrition in TN claim 30% of its children.

Answer that one..

[joshvajohn]

I like MGR very much for this kind of issues. Though Kamaraj was the one to introduce midday meals, it was MGR who brought the popular Midday meals. Many children were forcefully sent by parents for this one proper meal - now a days Kalaigner has kindly added eggs to the midday meals. I remember those kids who went to school are now found in United States or in Singapore as Engineers and other workers though they struggled a lot on their way to become one like what they are now.

For me the solution lies in the political will. Target those areas where food grains are not available. I should also say this right to work project of the government of India was a very good one which brought some income to people. There were also scarcity of labourers on the other hand for other regular work for farming and so on because of this. But this was an excellent programme. BJP brought the food for work scheme somehow Congress found fault with this and then put them side.

In this sense in TN it will be great to come up with a short term and long term solutions. I will continue to write on this...
I should say one thing here. I find that in India there a number of scholars and intellectuals in this area who have done studies and researches in this area of Malnutrition. It is essential for the state government to listen to a few of them and then see what they can implement on the basis of their suggestions. I give one example down below.

Target: malnutrition. Results from Tamil Nadu.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12341580

http://www.ub.uit.no/munin/bitstream/10 ... tudent.pdf

After fortified salt, fortified midday meals to fight malnutrition
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/after ... ls/675651/


A leadership agenda for action.
http://www.mssrf.org/fs/Leadership_Agen ... Action.pdf

[RamaY]

There are only three types of solutions to these kind of problems -

1. Get into power and bring necessary policy and administrative changes - High footprint, Long duration, High Cost, Low probability
2. Start a charity and do it yourself - Low footprint, Short duration, Costs as much as you can afford, High probability
3. Design a business opportunity around it and make people partners in it - Medium/High foot print, Medium duration, Medium Cost, Medium/High probability.

I recommend option 3.

[joshvajohn]

I wish to write about right to food or food security bill. It is essential to pass the bill first without planning for a subsidised rate for food.
My question is also why should the government of India subsidise food for 75 percentage of the people in India. It should be subsidised only for those who are in need of being subsidised and the rice must be made available to such people. Right to food security will make sure (I hope) that the food grains will be available for those people in those areas where due to various conditions there is a scacity of food. It makes the local admin responsible for making grains available accessible and affordable to the people. Because it is aimed at subsidising for 75% of Indian population the cost factor comes and also people attempt to block this act. For me I do not think the government of India needs to spend that much amount on subsiding for 75% of the population many of whom may not even use their ration cards to buy these grains. But the act must go ahead and it will put pressure on the officials to make sure the distribution is proper and food grains are available to all people at an affordable price. Wherever there are problems for subsidiaries such as people below poverty lines (27% approximately) and also for various reasons such as drought or flood or disaster or not able to work or lost jobs can be brought under this scheme to make sure they get support until they are back on their feet.
Midday meals is another scheme for the schools to be introduced. It is essential for all the schools in India to be brought under the scheme by negotiations between the state and central government.
I understand there are corruptions of the officialdom and also the political differences between states and central government and also the way the FCI and distribution systems are so corrupt but a monitaring system (both local bodies monitoring as well as corrupition vigilance monitaring) is also needed.
I will come back with community transformation concepts which is between third way (Giddens) and "Big society" (British Conservation proposes). One cannot depend completely on voluteerism alone. One also needs to address the issues that threaten the basic values of the society! Development needs to be sustainable, local community oriented and also volunteer based and people's movement based but structurally transformative and locally needs based and ecologically sustainable. People are given a space which will move them from 'unfreedoms' to 'freedoms' (to put in Amertya Sen's words) so that they can earn for themselves their needs. Until that time their basic needs may have to be provided for a while. I will expand these words soon If someone asks me questions about it.

Mid Day Meal scheme hits rough weather
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mid-d ... er/705378/
A statement from GOI
India has developed a range of institutions and programmes that have become the basis of social democratic policy in many countries. From the panchayat raj to the public distribution system, from public health programmes to mid-day meals programme, from educational interventions aimed to empower Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, other Backward Classes, Minorities, our women and the girl child, India has put in place a wide range of practical policies.
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=67329

[Theo_Fidel]

There may be a misunderstanding of the Right to food bill. It is nothing of the sort despite the high sounding name.

It has only one point.

Increase PDS food grain per family from 25 kg/month to 32 kg/month.

That is it.

This is supposed to to end mal-nutrition in India. Pah!

In the mean time let me point out another tragic item. Breast feeding within the first hour should occur for at least 95% of births for a healthy society.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/20/stories ... 700200.htm

Satish Kumar, Chief of the Field Office for Tamil Nadu and Kerala, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said that there is only about 30 per cent exclusive breast feeding happening for children up to six months in the State.

Mr John,

Thanks for taking the time to read up on the mal-nutrition in TN. All the researchers agree it exists. But we still don't understand why.
Without understanding your problems all your solutions will be meaningless.

I look forward to your inputs on the why.

[Theo_Fidel]

Some more hints on the issues that contribute to mal-nutrition.

If no one thought of Chappals you should hang your head in shame, including me.

http://www.indiatogether.org/2009/jun/hlt-malnutr2.htm

Nithya Balaji, Executive Trustee of Nalamdana, says her project used the popular medium of theatre to introduce behavioural changes and ownership for health and nutrition projects. “At Urur kuppam, initially we got a private donors to add an additional Rupee per child per day to the ICDS expenditure to add a few locally available vegetables, dhal and oil. The children's growth charts showed an impressive increase in the first two months of nearly 1.5 kg. This scheme is currently being supported by local sponsorship, but can easily be transferred to the parents if the state permits it," she says.

In the rural survey, NNMB, an arm of the Indian Council of Medical Research, found that nearly half the children in the under-five age group were found to have sub-clinical VAD or vitamin A level of less than 17 micrograms per decilitre. This is despite that clinical Vitamin A deficiency (night blindness, Bitot's spot and conjunctival xerosis) is prevalent in less than 0.5 percent of the children in this age group, in part due to the massive dose Vitamin A supplementation in the neonatal period (at birth) and near total institutional delivery.

In their book, Gillespie and Goddad say Vitamin A deficiency causes increased morbidity and mortality among infants, children and pregnant women, poor growth of children. It also contributes to anaemia, they say. The NNMP survey results linked poor nutritional habits and weaning food choices to the sub-clinical deficiency.

Interestingly, this study linked the higher prevalence of clinical manifestations of Vitamin A like Bitot's spot in the eye to the mother being illiterate and to populations without access to sanitary toilets. Ascaris and hookworm infestation are often leading causes for Vitamin A deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia in the state.

A large percentage of students do not use footwear while going to school. Hookworm enters the body through the feet of the person walking on an area contaminated with faecal matter. The worms anchor onto the small intestine and the blood loss over a period of time also leads to anaemia," he says. Though the state has its deworming programme, it could be scaled down and resources used elsewhere if people were to wear footwear before the stepped out of their homes, he adds.

And that is why activists, policy analysts and funders alike say nutrition cannot be just a health-sector issue and have been working with the government in bringing about a convergence of various service delivery departments. All sectors like health, social welfare, nutrition, school education, women's development, civil society, water and sanitation, rights groups, universities and colleges, elected peoples representatives and the media at all levels need to make anaemia a priority as its effects are widespread, contributes significantly to a huge number of preventable deaths and illnesses and is expensive to deal with during pregnancy alone.

UNICEF is also working with the government in scaling up projects that link poverty alleviation to better nutrition. “The simple fact is a person who is born with low birth weight, goes through childhood being undernourished will do poorly in school and perhaps drop out. When he is not educated, he will make poor choices for his family about nutrition and will perpetuate the cycle," adds Shanmughavelayutham.

[joshvajohn]

Theo
Can you please enlighten me on what is mal-nutrition?
Traditionally in rural areas families held an oral tradition about the food rota which contained a wide range of wheat, rice,keppai kali, ragi, Cholam, neem leaves, semolina, Ahathi and murungai leaves curry, a wide range of grams etc (some are tamil words) which had all the nutricion in themselves and made the young people very healthy even if you are vegetarian and also in the non-veg families. It is not only the modern knowledge andinformation that brought this balanced diet into our system. Having broken or forgotten this oral granma's tradition and being caught up in the modern medical information for nutrition many families being busy in their jobs struggle to keep a balanced diet of their children. One of the causes of mal-nutrition is not merely due to the lack of money or lack for food. It may be due to lack of information and lack of availability of variesty of food items.

Now the government cannot take up the family role which is supposed to take care of the children. In the case of basic needs being not available the government can engage in helping the basic needs being available to the children. It is essential to make sure that an essential information is available through entertainment and through various media activities. This is why I want the TN government to pass a resolution that if they wish to broadcast in TN the media companies should provide 5% of theirair time at free of cost or at least cheap rate for such information to be provided regularly for all those who wish to provide. In this case NGOs can also engage in providing such information to the public about various food items and also about nutrition.

In many children life it is a matter of food or no food. If you are working among the children labourers in Sivakasi or Coimbatore, you will see their earning is a big income to the family and support other children to go to English medium schools. Some of these children lives are just sacrificed for the sake of others. These folks eat what is provided to them and also what is available to them in the streets and in other places. Many children and families cannot be worried about their nutrition food. In such cases, the education system has to be flexible. I am aware many NGOs are working with these children take education in a flexible ways but they are not concerned about these children's mal-nutrition condition until they become sick. So It is essential for the government to work with such NGOs to work closely with these types of children in order to monitor and support them not only for their education but also for their health.

Another cases can be founded among the tribal children who are often affected by the scarcity of their regular food and so the TN goverment does some charity work among them but it is essential to make sure the local administrators district or Taluk admins to check whether such information is available to them about Mal -nut and also to monitor their children condition. One needs to be careful not to treat the tribal children like Australian aborigines to remove and take care of them. Rather working with the local communities to check these issues.

For me it is not only children but also young and adults too need such kind of information and also support in some places.
This is why I am thinking if we make some of these as mandate for the officials, then some agencies can hold them up responsible for ignoring these children. This is why we need the acts such as right to food and right to primary health.

In this sense Voluteerism such as NGOS and Government and individuals can work together not only in providing information but also provide a system to help and to work with government to bring about some transformation at grassroots level. Here I have given some examples of how to about it there are other ways too.

Traditional foods for infants

Once the child is eating cereal porridge well, mixed foods including cooked cereal, pulse and vegetable(s) could be given. Most traditional foods given to infants in different parts of the country are examples of mixed foods like khichidi, dalia, suji kheer, upma, idli, dokhla, bhaat-bhaji.

Sometimes traditional foods are given after a little modification so as to make the food more suitable for the child. For instance, mashed idli with a little oil and sugar is a good complementary food for the infant. Similarly bhaat can be made more nutritious by adding some cooked dal or vegetable to it. Khichidi can be made more nutritious by adding one or two vegetables in it while cooking.

http://motherchildnutrition.org/india/c ... lines.html

To be fair to the Government of India, it needs help to combat undernutrition. It is such a huge burden (43 per cent of children are malnourished) that the government cannot do it alone. Civil society, business, and the academic community have to help. International donors have an important catalytic role to play. But nutrition is a public good. Leadership has to come from the government. I still do not see it.

(Professor Lawrence Haddad is director of the U.K.-based Institute of Development Studies and president of the U.K. and Ireland's Development Studies Association.)

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article619677.ece

# India lacks a comprehensive nutrition strategy. Various choices for nutrition strategies can be considered. A review of some of the more successful country experiences suggests that all of them implemented complex,
multisectoral actions with more or less emphasis on service-oriented nutrition policies (as in Indonesia), incentive-oriented nutrition policies linked to community or household participation and performance (as
in Mexico), or mobilization-oriented nutrition policies (as in Thailand).
These choices are not mutually exclusive. India now has the opportunity to “leapfrog” toward innovative nutritional improvement based on the experiences of other countries and on experiences within India itself.
# Cooperation for policy actions: To accelerate progress in reducing child malnutrition, India should focus on the following four cross-cutting
strategic approaches:
a. ensuring that economic growth and poverty reduction policies reach the poor;
b. redesigning nutrition and health policies and programs by drawing on science and technology for nutritional improvement, strengthening their implementation, and increasing their coverage;
c. increasing investments and actions in nutrition services for communities with the highest concentration
of poor; and
d. focusing programs on girls’ and women’s health and nutrition.
IFPRI, in collaboration with Indian experts and international networks, could bring much-needed experience with programs and policies around the world to bear on this effort. An evidence-based, research-intensive approach with “learning while implementing”-which has shown success in other countries-is recommended.
There is no time or reason to wait for taking action.

http://www.ifpri.org/publication/accele ... tion-india

Some actions

TheInternationalConference onNutrition developed nine common areas for
action to promote and protect the nutritional welfare of the population:
Promotion and protection of nutritional well-being:
Incorporating nutrition objectives into development policies and programmes
Assessing, analysing and monitoring the nutrition situation.
Caring for the economically deprived and nutritionally vulnerable,
Preventing and managing infectious diseases,
Promoting appropriate diet and healthy lifestyles,
Promoting breastfeeding,
Preventing specific micronutrient deficiencies,
Protecting consumers through improved food quality and safety,
Improving household food security,
Digging into the causes for Effective solutions
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7092108/Prote ... on-Control#

Six 'P' s

By shedding the sectoral perspective and adopting a multisectoral,
multidisciplinary one, it is possible to see the causes of malnutrition in a
different guise. Six determinants of malnutrition are especially important,
although none is usually the only cause of malnutrition or the only discipline that
needs to be involved in nutrition strategies.
· pathologywhich is the medical term for disease, since disease, especially
infection, adversely influences nutritional status.
· polit ic s, as political ideology, political choices and political actions influence
nutrition;
· pov e rt y, which suggests economic causes of malnutrition;
· popula t ion, which refers both to child spacing in a family and also to
population density in a local area or a country;
· pr e se r va tionof food from wastage and loss, which includes the addition of
economic value to food through processing;
· pr oduct ion, mainly agricultural and food production;
The Six P’s causing all the Problems
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7092108/Prote ... on-Control#

Following are the five points from the commission set up by M S swaminathan committee which the state and central govt can heed to...

5. Action at National Level:
Mainstream Nutrition in National Missions
4. Action at State Level:
Coordinating Nutrition Security Initiatives
3. Action at Local Level:
Community food and nutrition security system
2. Learning for Success: Converting the Unique into the
Universal
1. Institutional Structures for Public Policy and
Coordinated Action in Nutrition
http://nutritioncoalition.in/pdf/5Point ... rition.pdf

[joshvajohn]

NIS Sparta’s inclusive growth mantra: 5,000 rural BPL youth given jobs in 190 days
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Ca ... up/714226/

82% of rural India deprived of basic needs
Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, November 21, 2010
http://www.hindustantimes.com/82-of-rur ... 29348.aspx

[Jamal K. Malik]

Tendulkar Committee on Rural Poverty
Rural Business Hub

[joshvajohn]

India: Dharna in Support of a National Food Security Act
Tuesday, 23 November 2010, 10:34 am
Press Release: Asian Human Rights Commission
November 22, 2010

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1011/S ... ty-act.htm


From Field to Fork: Obama's Agri Recipe for India
by Rahul Goswami
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/goswami141110.html


India, UAE to work on food security
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/gover ... y-1.716298

11 Nov, 2010, 07.57PM IST,IANS
India, Britain tie up for research on food security
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 908703.cms


Hunger rings as India dials 2G scam
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/dc-comme ... g-scam-752

[joshvajohn]

Devil's in the delivery: Why cash, stamps for food will never work

Read more: Devil's in the delivery: Why cash, stamps for food will never work - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home ... z16KSOatn9

PM Says the Malnutrition Problem must be Tackled Urgently
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=67622


India Plans to Introduce Microfinance Legislation, Meena Says
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-1 ... -says.html

Nabard is equipped to take responsibility for MFIs
http://www.livemint.com/2010/11/2422310 ... l?atype=tp

[joshvajohn]

An excellent summary piece - well done the author

National Food Security Bill 2010
http://cjnews.noads.biz/?p=797


PM sets up panel to review suggestions on food security Bill
http://www.livemint.com/2010/11/2621483 ... l?atype=tp


Poor priority tag headache for NAC
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101127/j ... 228034.jsp

NAC to continue discussions on food security bill
http://sify.com/news/nac-to-continue-di ... agebh.html

It will be great if this is passed in the PArliament before the end of this year! Congress has a better chance if they can do pass this quickly.

[joshvajohn]

Poor men killing their mothers in Tamil Nadu
http://in.yfittopostblog.com/2010/11/19 ... amil-nadu/

[joshvajohn]

PMO hurdle to Sonia food bill?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 002274.cms

Sonia hits party hurdle over Food Bill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUY1dVwr ... r_embedded

[joshvajohn]

Swaminathan: marry traditional wisdom with scientific knowledge
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/oth ... 917999.ece

Food management in India: Alien models won't work

Read more: Food management in India: Alien models won't work - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/busi ... z16blMpPYE

[joshvajohn]

The government did a poor job of both storing and distributing foodgrains and let thousands of tonnes simply lie and rot.
"Outsource India's food security" that is what the Chairman and Managing Director of Food Corporation of India (FCI) said to the Government. CNN-IBN's RTI query revealed the controversial proposal.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/fci-wants-to ... ml?from=tn

[ramana]

The new AP minister for textiles gave his officials a deadline to come up with ideas to stop weaver suicides,

[joshvajohn]

Yarn exports cap a blow to sector, says industry body
BS Reporter / Ahmedabad December 03, 2010, 0:40 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... dy/416988/


Weavers on warpath against high price of silk yarn

Read more: Weavers on warpath against high price of silk yarn - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... z172yjqP13

Weaver Friendly Textile Policy
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=67915

TN spinning industry overrides rising cotton yarn prices
December 03, 2010 (India)
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/texti ... s_id=93631


This is the dilemma between Cotton farmers who wanted a reasonable income for their crops and the textile/Weavers who want to maintain their customers with the same price of their cloths. There should be a dialogue between Textile industries and Cotton farmers in order to make sure that farmers get their prices whil Weavers are subsidized to maintain and promote the local hose based or small industrial productions.

[ramana]

JJ, What happens if the Govt, instead of scams, supports the prices to the consumer allowing the weaver to pass on the price rise? Most of the weaver product is marketed thru State trading outlets.

[joshvajohn]

yes ramana That is way one may be able to sustain the Weavers' industry in future. The government has to buy all the outlets of the Weavers and make sure they get their prices right. Possibly if Indian government runs a lot of display centres overseas for the Handloom and other weavers there will be a lot of market for this just like they do in various cities in India. Governments needs to have permanent emporiums across many cities where Indians or South Asians are concentrated. If it is run by the government or strong private agencies the western taxation may be reduced and thus they would sell at reasonable prices here which is a good income for the weavers in India. It is essential to waive the Weavers' loan soon. I hope Maran pushses it quickly and make it a reality. In Tamil Nadu it seems a bit more organised in the way that weavers' products (particularly handloom products) are boughts and sold in TN ration shops and thus people get them for very reasonable price and the weavers are paid off reasonably well. Also some more invention needs to be done in some IITs or in some tech unis where this small industries can be technologically upgraded and thus converted into an income generating units. Without such attemts long term these industries will find it difficult to survive.

Textiles Minister urges for waiving weavers’ loans
December 02, 2010 (India)
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/texti ... s_id=93603

Govt likely to waive coop bank loans for weavers
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/03301101.htm

Dayanidhi Maran used to do pro-people programmes!!?

Human touch of innovation
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/11/14/sto ... 180500.htm

[joshvajohn]

<script src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/embe ... "></script>

Food Scam
Timesofindia.com

[joshvajohn]

Why have a Right to Food
http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/rupashreena ... -food.html


It supports my argument. First pass the bill in the parliament. Then it is essential to think about supplying food grains to those who do not have access or cannot afford to buy or to those places where food is not available. Then come up with the plan and government programme. Passing the bill means holding those people in the government responsible for not doing their jobs properly. Once it is done in a few cases in the courts then other officers would automatically start working at rural areas and make sure through various programmes food would be available, accessible and affordable to all! This might even reduce the government expenses and thus may be sustainable.

[joshvajohn]

India's battle against hunger beset by problems of delivery and corruption

Malnutrition in India is on the rise, despite nutrition rehabilitation centres and ration shops
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/de ... tion-shops


Govt facing tough call on food security
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 063223.cms

IS MMS a genuine PM in support of many million Indians? Or is he thinking in terms of govt's money?
This is one time opportunity to make this as reality for him if not next time he is not going to be a PM. Even within Congress there will not be support for him!

[joshvajohn]

Food Security Act may float backup fund
Devika Banerji / New Delhi December 12, 2010, 0:15 IST
http://www.business-standard.com/india/ ... nd/417934/

[joshvajohn]

PM Expert Panel for Increasing Food Security Law Ambit
http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?705061

First it is better to pass the law in the parliament then work these things out!

[Pranav]

NGO types hate UID and food stamps for some reason. Any ideas why?

What is the main route for leakage in PDS? I suppose it is phantom beneficiaries, or beneficiaries who do not utilize their quota, which leads to excess stocks which can be sold at market rates.

Will not food stamps or cash transfers, coupled with UID verification and bank accounts, eliminate or at least reduce this problem?

[vera_k]

Unless they present an alternative solution, this fall into the "NGO types hate anything that will solve a problem" bucket.