Govt readies pulses plan to ORPHANS TO GET FREE EDUCATION rein in inflation, boost supply IN STATE UNIVS AND COLLEGES
NEW DELHI: The government is readying a new policy framework to rein in the inflationary impact and stabilise the supply of pulses, a widely consumed but scarce food item with economywide implications.
Three ministries — agriculture, food and finance — and the state-run policy think-tank Niti Aayog are coordinating efforts to frame the new measures that will see the government step in as one of the key importers of pulses.
“The goal is self-sufficiency in pulses. We are clear on that, whether it takes five years or six years,” farm minister Radha Mohan Singh said. A panel led by chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian will, for the first time, take a call on the minimum support prices (MSP) for pulses. MSPs are usually decided by the farm ministry-headed commission for agricultural costs and prices.
An MSP is the price at which the government buys produce from farmers, which also acts as the floor price for private traders. Higher MSPs incentivise farmers to grow more.
The government has hiked the support prices for pulses but they are still below market prices. This means farmers get far lower than what lentils sell for in the markets.
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38.3% 34.1% 34.5% 31.5%
26.8% Total Demand Pulses output Yield/Hectare Area/Hectares (all pulses in 2016) 43.3% Rajasthan 500 kg 4.2mn Maharashtra 500 kg 4mn UP 700 kg 2.4mn MP 850 kg 5.5mn KOTA: The Rajasthan government has decided not to charge orphans for education in its universities and colleges, Higher Education Minister Kali Charan Saraf announced on Sunday.
The free-education policy will be implemented from this year in 24 state-run universities and their 207 constituent or affiliated colleges, Saraf said in Kota.
The minister, however, clarified that the decision was not binding on private colleges.
Governor Kalyan Singh was instrumental in bringing about the policy, taken at the ViceChancellors’ coordination committee meeting held in January this year, he said.
“The aim is to provide educational opportunities to orphans who face financial issues and are vulnerable as they do not have parents,” he said.
Commissioner of the directorate of state higher education, Anoop Khinchi said orders have been issued to universities to not charge fees from orphan students from this academic session (2016-17), which began earlier this month.
However, he said the policy would be applicable only to those orphan students who clear the admission process.
Vice-Chancellor of Vardhman Mahaveer Open University (VMOU), Professor Ashok Sharma said while other varsities would provide only free education to orphans, VMOU would also provide free study material to them.
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