-The Hindu   The Right to Food Campaign on Tuesday appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set aside the government draft of the Food Security Bill which “minimises government's obligations, restricts people's entitlements and is devoid of any accountability”. Rejecting the government's draft Bill, the Campaign gave a national call for action. In an open letter to the Prime Minister, the Campaign said the draft Bill approved by the Empowered Group of...

States are expected to take responsibility for this, but the Bill ignores the nutritional crisis altogether K V Thomas Minister for Food The inclusion of iron supplements, protein, dairy supplements and vegetables can be done gradually - this Bill is just the beginning The food security Bill will certainly ensure nutrition but it is the states that have to take steps for that. The draft Bill approved recently by the Group of Ministers is...

-The Hindustan Times   Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has said he fully supports the proposed food security legislation, but without the right strategies, it could cook up a food fiasco in the long-term. Pawar’s concerns — his ministry is responsible for ensuring farm output is enough to keep the legislation going — could put off the draft food security bill until the winter Parliament session, sources said. Even as the food ministry’s draft legislation...

-The Business Standard   Food security cannot be ensured by FCI and the existing PDS Successive drafts of the food security Bill seem to agree on one thing: a greater role for the Food Corporation of India (FCI). FCI buys grains at the minimum support price and distributes them through fair price shops and other food-related schemes like midday meals in schools and children’s nutrition as part of the Integrated Child Development Services....

The Food Security Bill, approved by a group of ministers this month, has ignored malnutrition as a subject, surprising many observers in UN bodies. The reason given is a turf war among different central ministries. According to N C Saxena, a member of the National Advisory Council that has opposed the government’s draft of the Bill, the women and child development ministry was against including the subject in the Bill as...