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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Union Cabinet clears Food Security Bill

Union Cabinet clears Food Security Bill

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published Published on Dec 18, 2011   modified Modified on Dec 18, 2011

-CNN-IBN

 

The Union Cabinet on Sunday cleared Food Security Bill. The bill will now be tabled in Parliament.

Earlier, around 30 activists staged a protest outside Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence in New Delhi on Sunday evening demanding immediate passage of Right to Food Bill.

A senior police official said the activists were detained and taken to police station.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Monday but advanced to Sunday evening, sources said.

The Food Security Bill aims to provide legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrain to 63.5 per cent of the country's population.

Central Food Minister KV Thomas on Friday had said, "Sonia Gandhi has taken a lot of interest in the Food Security Bill, so we are following her instructions."

The cabinet in it's last meet had deferred the decision primarily because of concerns on finanicial viability of the bill raised by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. Pawar had also pointed out at the continued pilferage of the Public Distribution System (PDS).

The bill that proposes to make right to food a legal right, if passed will provide subsidised foodgrain & guarantee rice at Rs 3 per kg, wheat at Rs 2 per kg and millet at Rs 1 per kg.

For priority households, it will guarantee 7 kg per person or 35 kg per household and for non priority households, it is 3 kg per person.

The bill if passed guarantee food security to 63 per cent of India's Population. It will cover 75 per cent of rural population and 50 per cent of urban area population.

But its silent on the big question - from where will the required money of almost 1 lakh crore come to provide food for the needy, that's not all - here are several other unanswered questions aswell.

How will the priority and the general groups mentioned in the bill be identified? No time frame has been set for determining the target groups, Socio economic and caste census data is awaited for 2011 - which is already behind schedule.

How will the coordination mechanism between the Centre and the States work? The proposal does not specify is investments required for augmenting storage, freight capacity given that the railways is already stretched.

The government plans to introduce it in the ongoing Winter Session. With just a few months left for assembly elections in crucial states of Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, the Congress clearly doesn't want to be seen going back on a promise made by its President.

Once the Cabinet approves the bill, the Food Ministry would finalise the draft Bill and try to introduce it in the winter session of Parliament, as promised.

After introduction, the Bill is expected to go to the Parliamentary Standing Committee and the UPA government would try to get it passed in the budget session, sources said.

CNN-IBN, 18 December, 2011, http://ibnlive.in.com/news/union-cabinet-clears-food-security-bill/213062-37-64.html


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