Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Food bill: Pawar, Sonia to lock horns?

Food bill: Pawar, Sonia to lock horns?

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Aug 2, 2010   modified Modified on Aug 2, 2010

The Sharad Pawar-headed food ministry has set itself up for a confrontation with the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council on the National Food Security Bill.

Pre-empting NAC’s draft on NFSA, the food ministry has decided to implement the Tendulkar committee report on poverty numbers which fall far below the figures that the NAC formula would have reached.

In its last meeting, NAC had proposed and Congress president Sonia Gandhi had approved a formula for selecting the poor on the basis of social categories rather than mere economic criteria.

Moreover, NAC had decided that instead of artificially imposing a cap on the number of beneficiaries for the food security net, the government would go by the real numbers of beneficiaries enumerated for each vulnerable category such as SCs/STs, single women households and destitute.

NAC had also announced that it would discuss other issues regarding the bill in future meetings and then come up with a draft bill for the UPA government to build on.

But within days, Pawar has gone public ignoring the NAC recommendations, claiming that the only bill he was aware of was the one being prepared within the government. The move to officially adopt the Tendulkar number as the total number of families that would benefit from NFSA militates against the NAC formula. NAC had pushed and succeeded in convincing the Congress leadership that the Rs 3 a kg foodgrain scheme should see almost universal coverage in the 150 poorest districts or blocks of the country in the first phase while the vulnerable sections should be provided grains in rest of the country.

By this measure, roughly 75-90% of the population in the 150 poorest districts and roughly 35-50% of the population in the rest of the districts would have become the beneficiary of UPA’s grand plan. Only in urban areas, NAC had decided to maintain the percentage of beneficiaries to around 30%.

By adopting the Tendulkar committee report which puts the overall cap on the number of poor in the country at 37.4%, the food ministry has, sources said, put a ceiling on the number of people it would provide food subsidy for. While there has always been a wedge of issues and approaches between the members of NAC and the food ministry, the latest move is bound to spark a greater battle of wits between the Maratha satrap and Sonia’s team.

In another hint that the relations between this wing of the government and NAC are soured, the food secretary has also excused herself from a meeting NAC has called on Tuesday to review the reforms and delivery mechanisms of the public distribution system.


The Times of India, 3 August, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Food-bill-Pawar-Sonia-to-lock-horns-/articleshow/6249762.cms


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close