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NAC to finalise Food Security Bill draft today by Smita Gupta

It will also discuss Communal Violence Bill and condition of endangered Jarawa tribals

BJP and other right wing groups are against the use of word ‘minority' in Communal Violence Bill

The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) hopes to finalise its Working Group's draft of the Food Security Bill, take the discussion on its Communal Violence (CV) Bill draft further and hold a discussion on the plight of Jarawas in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, when it meets here on Wednesday, sources in the Council told The Hindu.

The final version of the Food Security Bill draft, already vetted for legal infirmities by Additional Solicitor-General Indira Jaisingh, will be presented by Harsh Mander and the NAC is expected to clear it on Wednesday, the sources said.

The CV Bill, on the other hand, is still at a discussion stage: Farah Naqvi will present the feedback the NAC received.

The sources said that while many suggestions made by other civil society groups could be taken on board to sharpen the CV Bill, the key issue that would be debated on Wednesday was on whether the word “minority” should be used at all in the Bill.

Objections to the use of the word “minority” have come in largely from the Bharatiya Janata Party and other right-wing groups. But many in the ruling dispensation also appear to be queasy about its use. They feel that dropping the word, while leaving the phrase “targeted violence,” will make it easier to get the Bill through Parliament. However, an influential section in the NAC — which is in favour of retaining the word — point to the institutional bias against minorities and cite the example of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes Atrocity Act.

Simultaneously, senior Tribal Affairs Ministry officials will brief the NAC on the recent visit of Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Kantilal Bhuria and senior officials to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to get a firsthand feel of the plight of Jarawas, an endangered group of tribals, and the report that emerged from the visit.

This is a subject in which Ms. Gandhi has evinced deep interest since NAC 1, when she had set up a special Sub-Group, in which current Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh and Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed were members. Earlier, in the year, the NAC had despatched an official to the islands to check whether tourism practices were upsetting the life of the Jarawas.

The debate, the sources said, revolved around whether the Jarawas should continue to exist in their pristine habitat, cut off from the mainstream, or whether they should be “empowered” through interventions, especially relating to health and education.

Meanwhile, while the NAC had placed its Food Security Bill draft on its website, setting a deadline of June 12 for all responses to come in, before the NAC puts its finishing touches on the Bill prior to despatching it to government, Union Food Minister K.V. Thomas has publicly said he had prepared the Food Security Bill, and even called a conference of Chief Ministers to seek their views and cooperation to implement the Bill.

The Food Ministry's draft — or what has appeared in the public domain — appears to be largely inspired the NAC's WG draft, but it is not clear what the government will now do with the final NAC draft. Of course, Professor Thomas has also had two meetings with the NAC.