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Rajya Sabha passes National Food Security Bill
-The Times of India


NEW DELHI: The National Food Security Bill, which seeks to provide heavily-subsidized food to two-thirds of India's 1.23 billion people, was passed by the Rajya Sabha on Monday. Much like what happened in the Lok Sabha last week, there was a scramble among political parties to garner populist brownie points even as they differed fiercely on certain provisions of the bill and their implementation.

With the Congress all set to use it as a "game-changing" poll plank in the run-up to the 2014 elections, the Food Security Bill will now become an Act after it receives the President's assent, and finally become the law when it is notified.

While proclaiming their "in principle" support for the bill, the financial implications of which has caused some jitters in the stock market, opposition parties moved a total of 237 amendments.

But the government held steadfast to its bill, with food minister K V Thomas dismissing as unfounded claims that it will adversely impact the country's federal polity or that the Centre neither had the finances, nor the availability of foodgrains to make good its promises.

Earlier, opposition parties tore into the government for yanking the bill out of its hat on election-eve, terming it as a mere "repackaging" of existing food schemes.

Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, speaking on the statutory resolution against the food security ordinance moved by Ram Jethmalani and others, claimed that the government rushed into it as it wanted to score political points.

Jaitley asked, "What was the dire emergency to abuse constitutional powers by bringing in the ordinance?" He said if the ordinance was so important, how was it left to states to prepare the list of priority households. "This list will take a year to prepare. Has Centre written to state governments? Why couldn't they wait for 30days?" The BJP leader said the devil, however, was in the details, citing a section of the ordinance which said the upper cap was fixed at 75% of rural population and 50% of urban population.

His colleague Venkaiah Naidu said the Congress had to accept full blame for the fact that 81 crore people still needed to be given food security 67 years after Independence. The government has also miserably failed in making agriculture sustainable for farmers. "You are trying to get vote security in the name of food security ... the food bill is not going to get you goodwill. All you will get is a big bill," he said.

Criticising the government for poor implementation of the existing poverty-alleviation schemes, BSP chief Mayawati held it would have been better if the government had consulted all state chief ministers before bringing in the bill. The food security scheme could well end up "half-baked" like the job-guarantee scheme MGNREGA, she said.

Also expressing reservations on the bill in its current form, the CPM said the government was trying to provide cheap food to people on one hand and increasing fuel prices on the other. The entitlements being promised under the bill are not enough for people to live with respect and without hunger. "There are lots of states which give more. Don't reduce the entitlement of states," said Sitaram Yechury.

Derek O' Brien of Trinamool, in turn, first pointed out the difference between a 'gimmick' and an 'idea', and then held that the bill was "a pure gimmick". The UPA regime was an 'Under Pressure Alliance' and the bill made "a mockery of federalism" enshrined in the Constitution, he said.