New Delhi Apr 25 PTI The Supreme Court on Monday directed all the states governments and the union territories UTs to implement the SOP prepared by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights NCPCR for the care and protection of children in street situations A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said the steps taken so far have not been satisfactory and rescuing children should not be a temporary exercise and it should be ensured that they are rehabilitated As it is clear that the other StatesUTs have not raised any objection or sought any modification of the suggestions made by NCPCR we direct all the statesUTs to implement the guidelines circulated by NCPCR and take steps to rescue and rehabilitate the children apart from the later stages which are clear from Bal Swaraj Portal A status report shall be filed by the statesUTs within a period of two weeks from today the bench said while posting the matter for hearing in the second week of May NCPCR has developed a Standard Operating Procedure SOP 20 for Care and Protection of Children in Street Situations to create a convergence among the various functionaries institutionsagencies Government of India schemes and policies and to ensure a more holistic approach to providing care protection and restoration of children in street situation During the hearing the apex court was informed that the Tamil Nadu and Delhi governments have already formulated the scheme for rescuing and rehabilitating children in street situations The States of Tamil Nadu and Delhi is directed to submit a copy to NCPCR The States of Tamil Nadu and Delhi are directed to implement the scheme and immediate steps in identifying and rehabilitating children in street situations The apex court had earlier directed states and the Union Territories UTs to implement the suggestions for formulation of rehabilitation policy for street children and said it should not remain on paper It had noted that till date information regarding only 17914 street children has been provided while their estimated number is 15-20 lakh The apex court had reiterated that the authorities concerned have to update the material required on the web portal of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights NCPCR without fail The top court had earlier directed that testimony of children who are victims of child trafficking be recorded through video conferencing either at the district court complex or the office of the District Legal Services Authority in the district where the child is residing It had said it was concerned with obviating difficulties to victims of trafficking concerning travelling long distances to give evidence in trial courts PTI PKS RKS RKS

New Delhi Mar 26 PTI The Centre has extended the free foodgrain programme PMGKAY for six months till September this year to provide relief to poor Union minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday A decision in this regard was taken in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Food Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted that the government has extended the scheme till September 2022 The extension of the scheme despite the end of the COVID-19 pandemic shows the Modi governments sensitivity towards poor he tweeted Under the PMGKAY programme which is running for the past years the government will distribute 1003 lakh tonnes foodgrain at a cost of Rs 34 lakh crore to the exchequer In March 2020 the Centre had launched the scheme Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana PMGKAY to provide free foodgrains to over 80 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act NFSA as part of its efforts to reduce the hardships of people during the coronavirus pandemic The Centre provides 5kg of foodgrains per month for free under this scheme The additional free grains is over and above the normal quota provided under the NFSA at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kg The scheme has been extended several times with the recent one until March 2022 Initially in 2020-21 the PMGKAY scheme was announced only for a period of three months of April May and June 2020 Phase-I Later the government extended the scheme from July to November 2020 Phase-II With the COVID crisis continuing in 2021-22 the Centre in April 2021 had re-introduced the scheme for a period of two months of May and June 2021 Phase-III and extended it for another five months from July to November 2021 Phase-IV The scheme was again extended from December 2021 to March 2022 Phase-V Under the Phases I to V the food ministry had allocated a total of about759 lakh tonnes of foodgrains to the StatesUTs which is equivalent to aboutRs 26 lakh crorein food subsidy PTI MJH MR MR

New Delhi Dec 24 PTI The Centre on Friday imposed stock holding limits on soyameal which is used as a raw material in the poultry feed industry till June 2022 to curb hoarding as well as check price rise The limits will be in place till June 30 2022 and an order in this regard was issued with effect from December 23 an official statement said Besides the government has notified an order under the Essential Commodities Act to declare soyameal as an essential commodity up to June 30 2022 by amending the Schedule of the Essential Commodities Act 1955 Soyameal processors millers and plant owners can hold a maximum stock of 90 days production and they are required to declare the storage location Government-registered trading companies traders and private chaupals can hold a maximum stock of 160 tonne with a defined and declared storage location If stocks held by legal entities are higher than the prescribed limits then they have to declare the same on the food ministrys portal httpevegoilsnicinsoyamealstocklogin and bring it to the prescribed stock limits within 30 days of the issue of the notification It should be ensured that soyameal stock is regularly declared and updated on the portal the statement said The data on the portal will be regularly monitored and any follow-up action will be taken by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying The above measures are expected to stop any unfair practices like hoarding black marketing etc in the market having the potential to hike the prices of soyameal the statement said The stock limits have been set in consultation with the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying The notification of soyameal as an essential commodity would empower the Union government and all StatesUTs to regulate production and distribution of soyameal The move will help to curb unfair market practices and enhance the availability of the commodity for consumers like poultry farm and cattle feed manufacturers the statement said PTI LUX RAM