-The Business Standard Clause empowers both Central and state govts from their obligation to provide subsidised food in the event of war, flood, drought, fire, cyclone or earthquake The government included much-debated 'force majeure' clause in the Food Security Ordinance, despite opposition from civil socieity and a Parliamentary standing committee. However, the clause can now only be invoked if the Central government in consultation with the Planning Commission decides as to whether such...

-DNA The Centre may have used the ordinance mode to push through with the Food Security Bill in the hope that this will bring political dividends but many of its stipulations will lead to serious challenges, even in a Cong-NCP ruled state like Maharashtra. On one hand, the total food grain availability in the state will go up from 3.95 lakh tonnes to 4.25 lakh tonnes, but only 75% from existing...

-NDTV A lawyer has challenged the contentious Food Security Ordinance in the Supreme Court, terming it as "illegal". The Centre's ambitious welfare programme is now a law after receiving President Pranab Mukherjee's assent on Friday; the scheme provides subsidised food to nearly 800 million or 67 per cent of the population and is being viewed as a major vote-getter in the national elections, due by May. Advocate ML Sharma today filed a...

-The Business Standard Food security should not be treated as a political ploy The government's rush to push through food security legislation as an ordinance, instead of waiting the few weeks till the next Parliament session, is disturbing. There continue to be several major problems with the food security scheme that deserve to be more thoroughly discussed at the highest level of law making than they have been so far. Nobody can...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Any promise of freebies such as television sets or laptops by political parties affects the level playing field and "shakes the root of free and fair elections", the Supreme Court has held. The court, however, clarified that such promises cannot be labelled "corrupt practice" under the existing laws and dismissed a petition challenging the competitive distribution of freebies by the AIADMK and the DMK during elections in Tamil...