Madurai, May 7 (PTI) Blaming the Centre solely for the spiralling price rise, the CPI-M today asked the UPA government to restore the original allocation of foodgrains for all the states to help them control prices.
Party General Secretary Prakash Karat said essential commodities, through the Public Distribution system, should be given to all the people instead of the targetted sections.
The Centre had also failed to procure adequate quantity of foodgrains from the farmers, he told reporters here.
The state government's role with regard to control of prices was restricted to strengthening the PDS. But for this the Centre should help, he said.
Labels: Government
New Delhi, Nov 8 (ANI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today expressed concern over mounting subsidies in food, fertilisers and petroleum.
"We need to address the problem of mounting subsidies in food, fertilisers and now, in petroleum which is a recent phenomenon. Over one lakh crores are going to be spent this year alone on these three items," Singh said during the Planning Commission's meeting.
The Prime Minister, who is the Chairman of the Planning Commission, noted the soaring global crude price that is inching towards a 100-dollar per barrel mark.
"It is important that we restructure subsidies so that only the really needy and the poor benefit from them and all leakages are plugged," he added.
Singh also drew attention towards the food security of the country and said in the next decade it would be under stress.
"Global trends in food production and prices and our own demand patterns of consumption are going to put increasing pressure on both the availability and prices of basic food stuffs," he said.
"If we have to manage these pressures, we need to ensure that the agriculture sector not only performs as per our expectations but also that our food planning adjusts to the emerging market realities," he added.
Commenting on the allocation of funds for the health sector, he said, health too sees a substantial increase in outlays - both in absolute terms and in its share, adding, "The National Rural Health Mission remains the centrepiece of our efforts and by the end of the Plan, the total government spending on health at all levels would reach two per cent of our GDP."
Talking about the disparity persisting in the country, Singh said, "The growth cannot be restricted to isolated pockets or to certain sections of society. We need it to be far more broad based."
"The Plan, therefore, rightly emphasizes a strategy of inclusive growth. We must certainly do what is necessary to achieve the target of nine to ten per cent growth during the 11th Plan period," he added.
"We must build on the strengths already evident to achieve this growth outcome," he said.
Stating that agriculture would be a core focus of the government, Singh said the farm sector growth, which averaged around four percent in the last two years, is likely to remain at the same level in the current fiscal.
The full Commission approved the draft for the 11th Plan that began in April 2007 and aims at raising average GDP rate to nine per cent from 7.6 per cent during 2002-07, while more than doubling the outlay to Rs 36,44,718 crore.
The document seeks to make growth inclusive by increasing the outlay for priority sector programmes. (ANI) --MP
Labels: Government
MP: New Delhi, Oct 25 (ANI): The Union Cabinet today gave its approval
for extension of the tenure of Short Service Commissioned Officers of
Armed Force Medical Services (AFMS) from existing 10 years to 14
years.
The Cabinet also extended the time scale promotions of AFMS Short
Service Commissioned Officers as applicable to permanent Commissioned
officers owing to the extended tenure.
"This decision will help mitigate shortage of officers in the AFMS. It
will bring about a parity with the existing time scale promotions
available to the permanent Commissioned Officers and meet the career
aspirations of AFMS SSC Officers," a government release stated. (ANI)
Labels: Government
MP: New Delhi, Oct 25 (ANI): The Union Cabinet today gave its approval
for the amendment of the Part I of the Schedule to the Constitution,
under article 342 of the Constitution.
The Cabinet has decided to insert the following provision and
Explanation in the Part at the end:
"Provided that the children, who are born to inhabitants of
Lakshadweep in any other place in the mainland of India shall be
deemed to be inhabitants born in the islands, if such children settle
permanently in the islands.
Explanation : The term " settle permanently" shall have the same
meaning as defined under Clause 3(I)(d) of Lakshadweep Panchayat
Regulation, 1994."
The Clauses 3(I) (d) of the Lakshadweep Panchayat Regulation, 1994
would read as follows:
"3(I): A Gram Sabha shall consist of persons registered in the
electoral rolls relating to an Island or group of islands comprising
the area of Village ( Dweep Panchayat):
Provided that a person shall be disqualified for being a member of the
Gram Sabha, if he -
(d) is not ordinarily a resident within the Island for which the Gram
Sabha is established.
Explanation : For the purposes of clause (d) a person shall be deemed
to be "ordinarily resident" in an Island if he has been ordinarily
residing in such Island or is in possession of a dwelling house
therein ready for occupation."
"The list of Scheduled Tribes of Lakshadweep will be modified as per
approval of the Cabinet as children, who are born to inhabitants of
Lakshadweep in any other place in the mainland of India shall be
deemed to be eligible for Scheduled Tribe status in Lakshadweep. This
will benefit the children of the Scheduled Tribes of Lakshadweep, who
have been residing away from Lakshadweep due to medical, educational
or job requirements etc. resulting in their children having been born
in the mainland," a release issued by the Cabinet stated. (ANI)
Labels: Government
