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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Cong eyes rich harvest from food security

Cong eyes rich harvest from food security

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published Published on Jul 6, 2013   modified Modified on Jul 6, 2013
-The Telegraph


New Delhi: The Congress today indicated that the food security scheme would be its main electoral plank, describing it as the biggest ever government intervention in the world to fight hunger and malnutrition.

President Pranab Mukherjee today signed the food security ordinance that entitles two-thirds of India's population to 5kg food grains every month at highly subsidised rates. The Centre plans to convert it into an act soon.

Congress communications chief Ajay Maken said "Sonia Gandhi's dream project" would not face operational or financial hurdles, and that the Centre was determined to roll out the scheme within the next six months.

He criticised the Opposition for constantly disrupting Parliament, which had forced the government to take the ordinance route.

Maken dismissed suggestions that the proposed food security act was basically a "Congress security scheme" at a time the party was battling negative perceptions and corruption scandals ahead of next year's general election.

"This was a promise made in our manifesto," he said. "If we fulfil it, people say it is for electoral gains; if we don't, we are accused of making false promises."

In private conversations, Congress leaders claim that the proposed food and land acquisition acts, along with the direct benefit transfer scheme, would be a game-changer in the 2014 elections. The party hopes to reap a rich harvest from these pieces of legislation even in the Assembly elections later this year.

Congress leaders have been dismissive of speculation about an early general election, saying implementing these schemes on the ground would require more than six months.

Food minister K.V. Thomas attributed the delay in the President signing the ordinance to the time needed for "verification" of the 73 amendments. He admitted that the file had been sent to Rashtrapati Bhavan only late Thursday night.

He allayed fears about the scheme adversely affecting procurement processes, the minimum support price and agricultural production.

Maken argued that though the scheme would cost Rs 1.23 lakh crore a year, the additional financial burden on the government would only be around Rs 23,800 crore when the existing food subsidy was factored in and related welfare schemes were merged with it.

He said that fears about the food security scheme substantially increasing the fiscal deficit were unfounded.

Thomas said that all these aspects had been discussed thoroughly by the empowered group of ministers, the National Advisory Council and the cabinet and there was no need to take an alarmist view.

He said the states could continue with their existing schemes and still avail of the additional subsidy that the food security act would entail. States such as Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Kerala are already providing food grains at cheaper rates than the Rs 3-a-kg rice, Rs 2-a-kg wheat and Re 1-a-kg coarse grains entailed by the central scheme.

The states will have to identify the beneficiaries and strengthen the existing public distribution system, which will be a gigantic task as the numbers would swell to around 80 crore from the existing 32 crore.

Thomas said storage capacity would be crucial to the scheme's success. He added that the government had enhanced the storage capacity from 55 million tonnes in 2011 to 78 million tonnes, and claimed that this would become 85 million tonnes by 2014.

Maken stressed the government's success in widening the scope of welfare schemes. He said the food subsidy bill, which was Rs 25,181 crore in 2003-04 when the UPA came to power, had touched Rs 1.23 lakh crore, registering an almost five-fold increase.


The Telegraph, 6 July, 2013, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130706/jsp/nation/story_17087265.jsp#.UdfvXazcjco


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