Farmers carry paddy saplings for plantation in a field. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

The government on June 19 raised the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy by 5.35% to ₹2,300 per quintal for the 2024-25 kharif marketing season.

The hike in paddy support price comes despite the government sitting on surplus rice stocks, but it is significant ahead of elections in states like Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Delhi.

Announcing the MSP increase, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Cabinet has approved the minimum support prices for 14 kharif (summer) crops based on recommendations from the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

The MSP for ‘common’ grade paddy has been raised ₹117 to ₹2,300 per quintal, while for the ‘A’ grade variety it has been hiked to ₹2,320 per quintal for the upcoming kharif season, Mr. Vaishnaw told reporters.

This is the first Cabinet decision taken in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term in office, the Minister said.

Mr. Vaishnaw said the government had a clear policy decision taken in the 2018 Union Budget that MSP should be at least 1.5 times the cost of production, and this principle was followed in the latest MSP hike. The cost was scientifically calculated by CACP, he added.

The Food Corporation of India currently holds a record stockpile of around 53.4 million tonnes of rice, which is four times the required buffer for July 1 and sufficient to meet demand under welfare schemes for one year without any fresh procurement.

Despite lower rainfall of about 20% across the country since the start of the monsoon season on June 1, weather conditions are now favourable for further advancement of the rains, according to the meteorological department.

A view of the stock point in Vijayawada.
| Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri

The government on February 1^{approved the extension of subsidy scheme for sugar supplied to 1.89 crore Antyodya Anna Yojna (AAY) families through ration shops for two years till March 31, 2026.}

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narender Modi, approved extension of scheme of sugar subsidy for AAY families distributed through Public Distribution Scheme (PDS) for two more years till March 31, 2026.

With this approval, the government will continue giving subsidy of ₹18.50 per kg to participating states for distribution of sugar to AAY families through PDS at the rate of one kg per family per month.

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States have the responsibility to procure and distribute sugar.

“Under the scheme, the central government gives subsidy of ₹18.50 per kg per month of sugar to AAY families of participating states.

“The approval is expected to extend benefits of more than Rs 1,850 crore during period of 15th Finance Commission (2020-21 to 2025-26). The scheme is expected to benefit about 1.89 crores AAY families of the country,” an official statement said.

The scheme facilitates access of sugar to the poorest of the poor and adds energy to their diet so that their health improves.

The Centre is already giving free ration under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojna (PM-GKAY).

Sale of ‘Bharat Atta’, ‘Bharat Dal’, tomatoes and onions at affordable and fair prices are the measures to ensure sufficient food in plate of citizens beyond PM-GKAY also.

So far, about 3 lakh tonnes of Bharat Dal (chana dal) and about 2.4 lakh tonnes of Bharat Atta have already been sold, benefitting ordinary consumers.

“Thus, availability of subsidized dal, atta and sugar have completed the food for a common citizen of India fulfilling Modi ki Guarantee of ‘Food for All, Nutrition for All’,” the statement said.

New Delhi:

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the country’s three separate memorandum of understandings with Papua New Guinea, France, Trinidad and Tobago in the field of digital technologies. The MoU (memorandum of understanding) with France intends to promote closer cooperation and exchange of information pertaining to digital technologies, and will mutually support each participant’s goal to promote access to digital technology in their countries, according to an official statement.

“The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Republic of India and the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty of the French Republic on cooperation in the field of Digital Technologies,” the statement said.

The MoU is likely to enhance bilateral cooperation in digital technologies in the G2G (government-to-government) and B2B (business-to-business) domains.

“MoU envisages improved collaboration, leading to employment opportunities in the field of IT,” the statement said.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) has been mandated to promote international cooperation in the emerging and frontier areas of information technology under a bilateral and regional framework of cooperation.

“The cooperation under this MoU will start on the date of its signature by both Participants and will last five years,” the statement said.

The cabinet approved the MoU signed on July 28 between Meity and the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology of Papua New Guinea on cooperation in sharing successful digital solutions implemented at population scale for digital transformation.

“The MoU intends to promote closer cooperation and exchange of experiences and digital technologies-based solutions (viz. India Stack) in the implementation of digital transformational initiatives of both the countries. The MoU shall come into effect from the date of signature of the Parties and shall remain in force for a period of three years,” the statement said.

The government has opened India stack — a set of technology tools like Aadhaar, UPI, and Cowin — for their adoption in other countries.

The cabinet has approved a similar agreement to promote India stack between Meity and the Ministry of Digital Transformation Technology of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

The MoU with Trinidad and Tobago will also remain in force for a period of three years.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Union Cabinet on Monday approved the women’s reservation bill, sources said. The Union Cabinet met this evening after the first sitting of the five-day special session of Parliament.

Sources said several BJP ministers and MPs have been asked to bring women constituents to Parliament in the coming days. BJP president JP Nadda met many of them on Monday.

Several leaders have demanded the introduction of the women’s reservation bill, which guarantees a 33 per cent quota in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Congress also passed a resolution on it at its Hyderabad Congress Working Committee meeting on Sunday.

All about the Women’s Reservation Bill:

• The women’s reservation bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent quota in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
• One-third of the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be reserved for women from those groups. These reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory.
• The last concrete development on the issue was in 2010 when Rajya Sabha passed the bill with marshals escorting out some MPs who opposed the move but the bill lapsed as it could not be passed by Lok Sabha.
• In the present Lok Sabha, 78 women members were elected which account for less than 15 per cent of the total strength of 543. In Rajya Sabha too, women’s representation is about 14 per cent, according to the data shared by the government with Parliament last December.
• Several state assemblies have less than 10 per cent women representation, including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura and Puducherry.
• Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi had 10-12 per cent women MLAs, according to the government data of December 2022. Chattisgarh, West Bengal and Jharkhand led the charts with 14.44 per cent, 13.7 per cent and 12.35 per cent women MLAs, respectively.

Cooperation Minister Amit Shah says the societies will help protect indigenous natural seeds from extinction. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of three national-level multi-State cooperative societies to act as an apex body for procurement, processing, marketing and distribution of seeds.

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that the societies would help the “protection of indigenous natural seeds which are becoming extinct”. In a tweet, he said the cooperatives were the only sector that touched crores of people, but had remained ignored for many years till the Narendra Modi government decided to strengthen them.

The Minister said the bodies to be formed were the multi-State seed, organic and export societies. The societies to be formed under the multi-State cooperative societies (MSCS) Act, 2002 would develop a system for preservation and promotion of indigenous natural seeds.

In a statement, the Cooperation Ministry said production of quality seeds would reduce the dependence on imported seeds and provide a boost to the rural economy. The Ministry said the primary societies, district-, State- and national-level federations and multi-State cooperative societies could become members and the elected representatives would be included on the Board of the societies under their bylaws.

Role of farmers

The proposed society will help to increase the seed and varietal replacement rates, ensuring the role of farmers in quality seed cultivation and seed variety trials and production and distribution of certified seeds with a single brand name, by utilising the network of all levels of cooperatives, the Ministry said.

“The availability of quality seeds will help in increasing agricultural productivity in strengthening food security and also increasing the income of the farmers. The members will benefit both by realisation of better prices by production of quality seeds, higher production of crops by use of high-yielding variety seeds and also by dividend distributed out of the surplus generated by the society,” it said.