One Nation One Ration Card: Good intention but implementation may be difficult

The nature, price and quantity of items supplied through the public distribution system varies from state to state

Huge protest in Jharkhand against cash transfer scheme

People want Direct Benefit Transfer system to be replaced with old practice of getting rice at Re 1/kg at the ration shop

COVID-19: Fear factor, supply uncertainty can make second wave worse for rural India, warns Pronab Sen

Down To Earth spoke to economist Sen, India’s former chief statistician and programme director for the International Growth Centre - …

One Nation, One Ration Card and the hurdles ahead

While this scheme would bring perceptible changes to the lives of India’s internal migrant workers, challenges lie ahead in designing and …

How pulses can regain their lost glory in India

Ensuring that pulses sell at the minimum support price and distributing them under the public distribution system can help them find favour with …

Humble millets can ensure food security, nutrition to India’s vulnerable communities

Shifting from climate-resilient and micro-nutrient-rich traditional crops to cash crops has resulted in poor health indicators, says expert

Over 90 million excluded from PDS entitlement: Report

Many states still skip including vulnerable groups as automatic beneficiaries  

One nation one ration card: How many know about it

Facilities of inter-state portability for food security and selecting a fair price ration shop of one’s choice has been availed by 58% …

Small incentive, big draw: How an officer makes PDS work

Jyoti Kakwani plugs pilferage in fair price shops by giving surprise gifts to those who demand receipts from the shopkeeper

Control and delete: Lack of data updating has left millions of poor Indians hungry; here is how

The government’s reliance on decade-old data due to a delay in census has resulted in exclusion of millions from the safety net of the …

Dying for ration: Deep in debt, Rajasthan villagers sell animals

Many across the state say received no ration for years; no help from authorities 

COVID-19: Centre must make foodgrain distribution universal

The immediate support India’s poor need is food; everything else comes later  

COVID-19 lockdown: 50 PDS shops sealed in Bihar for illegal trade

According to officials, more PDS shops will be sealed and action taken against shopkeepers in other districts as well  

Free foodgrain until Diwali: What about migrants, those without ration cards?

Around 100 million Indians are excluded from the public distribution system, according to economists

COVID-19: Bihar govt cancels licences of 36 PDS shops

Lodges FIRs against 144 shop dealers over alleged irregularities in food grain distribution and black marketing 

COVID-19: Bereft of clarity, why relief measures for Indian poor are not enough

Implementation of relief measures remains a concern. Those not registered under PDS scheme can be affected, say experts    

Odisha tops first-ever NFSA state ranking index

NFSA’s implementation through TPDS has not been uniform in the country, according to Centre

COVID warriors: More action than words protect consumer rights in UP

Rajesh Choubey has stopped ration shops from pilfering, sensitised people and assisted them in finding livelihood during the pandemic 

Dying for ration: Tonk woman bringing up family on Rs 200 a day not eligible for PDS welfare

Ill-treated by husband for not birthing a boy, free ration would mean not worrying about feeding her daughters

Dying for ration: 7-year wait for Jharkhand couple to receive PDS benefits

Village residents say ration cards of many cancelled, including those from Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups

DTE Impact: 70-year-old supporting mentally-ill daughter, disabled son-in-law to get her dream cowshed

District collector sanctions Rs 2 lakh, plot of land on lease for family among other benefits

Central must connect all states to food scheme for robust PDS: Parliamentary Standing Committee

Only 15 states procure rice, 8 procure wheat as part of decentralised distribution scheme 

COVID-19: One nation, one ration card turns spotlight on 2017 govt report

The Union govt report had asked states to remove provisions that restricted migrants in accessing PDS benefits

Dying for ration: Centre to give free foodgrains to 813 million from New Year, but what of those excluded

Coverage of the National Food Security Act is still done on the basis of the outdated 2011 Census  

'UBI can help people plan their lives properly'

As govt announces basic income for small farmers in its interim budget 2019, Down To Earth talks to Sarath Davala, who led a pilot study on UBI …