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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Food bill wait after Sonia prod

Food bill wait after Sonia prod

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published Published on Apr 6, 2010   modified Modified on Apr 6, 2010


The government has sought more time to work on the food security bill after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi insisted on a comprehensive legislation to tackle the problem of hunger among India’s poor.

An empowered group of ministers had cleared the draft bill last month but reviewed it tonight at Sonia’s insistence and sought more time for deeper study.

After the 90-minute meeting of the group, food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said the government needed more time to finalise the contours of the proposed legislation.

The ministerial group, headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will meet three weeks later. This means the bill may not be ready for introduction in the House in the budget session.

Who would qualify for the benefits under the food bill is the most important issue to be resolved.

There are several yardsticks for identifying the country’s poor at present, each with a different set of determinants. The Planning Commission has now been asked to give the exact definition of people below poverty line.

The Congress president is believed to have written to the government listing the shortcomings in the draft bill saying the legislation should not have inadequate provisions. She asked the government to take a fresh look at the draft.

But when asked whether the ministerial group or the Prime Minister’s Office had received any letter from Sonia, Pawar said: “I have not received any letter.”

The draft cleared by the ministers allows 25kg of rice/wheat at Rs 3 per kg to every BPL family every month. The ministers also wanted to stick to the Planning Commission’s estimate of 6.5 crore BPL families.

Sonia, however, wants 35kg of wheat/rice per month instead of 25kg and desires that oil and pulses should also be given at subsidised rates. She also wants 7.5 crore families to be covered by the scheme and special provisions for old people, women and children.

Pawar, though, stuck to the 25kg subsidy. “An important issue is about the exact definition of the BPL. Different people are discussing it differently,” PTI quoted him as saying.

The National Advisory Council which has now been revived may have a final look at the bill before it is introduced in Parliament.

Congress spokesperson Abhishekh Singhvi denied there was any conflict of views between the party and the government. “Inputs from all the sources” would be considered before finalising the bill, he said.

Pawar said that as many as 22 countries provide food security to the poor and the government would study their systems as well.

The Planning Commission has worked out a formula under which the food subsidy was to be capped at Rs 55,000 crore.


The Telegraph, 6 April, 2010, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100406/jsp/nation/story_12307580.jsp


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