Aiming to provide food security to the poor, the government today approved food bill that seeks to give legal entitlement of cheaper food grains to 63.5 per cent of the country's population.
The ordinance on the Food Security Bill is expected to come up for consideration in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, sources said on Monday.
The Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Pranab Mukherjee has cleared the Food Security Bill, paving the way for Right to food to be made a fundamental right backed by legal provision. The bill is strongly supported by Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Ushering in the biggest programme in the world to fight hunger, Parliament on Monday gave its nod to the landmark Food Security Bill which seeks to provide highly subsidised foodgrains to the country's two-third population as a right.
It does not bar any state or the Centre from continuing or launching other food-based schemes.
Team Anna on Monday evening demanded that Lokpal Bill be passed by Parliament before the legislation on Food Security to ensure that the money spent on ensuring food for all reaches the deserved without any diversion of funds.
The government which introduced amendments to the landmark Food Security Bill in the Lok Sabha Thursday could not get it passed as opposition stalled proceedings in the House over killing of Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan and other issues.
The government is being pushed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to put the food bill on fast track as the Congress had promised a 'right to food' in its 2009 election manifesto, reports Anita Katyal
Amid talk of a special session of Parliament on the Food Security Bill, government said all options are open on the issue.
Attacking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the proposed Food Security Bill, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said the bill, in its current form, will push the country toward "malnutrition".
Most Congress leaders felt the government should introduce an ordinance so that the party can get the credit for the legislation that will provide food security to millions in the country.
Experts say the Bill should include higher-value food items than just cereals
There continues 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.
If Minister of State for Food K V Thomas has his say in the proposed Food Security Bill, the eldest woman in the family -- and not the patriarch -- will be designated the head of family in the ration card.
Two key legislations Lokpal Bill and Food Security Bill -- are expected to be taken up by the Union Cabinet on Sunday after which they will be brought to Parliament next week.
The Manmohan Singh government's rush to pass the Food Security Bill reflects extreme paucity of logic and action, says Neeta Kolhatkar
The Samajwadi Party on Monday said it will support the Food Security Bill in Parliament if the amendments, including giving due price to farmers and changing the definition of those below the poverty line, suggested by it, are accepted.
A meaningful long-run strategy to eradicate poverty would do more than a top-down distributive model.
'Because the economics of the Food Security Bill is not viable, poor people are not going to get it. Poor people are going to take it and sell it in the open market. How does migrant labour store rice securely,' asks RS Seshadri, an agro industry expert
After much delay and uncertainty, the landmark Food Security Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday which seeks to provide cheap foodgrains to 82 crore people in the country, ushering in the biggest programme in the world to fight hunger.
The current cost of the food subsidy is Rs 1 trillion.
The Andhra Pradesh Congress and Telugu Desam members of Parliament are to strategise their approach on how to plan an agitation inside Parliament on Friday. Groups of MPs have already fixed dinner meetings. News is that Telangana MPs are also planning such meetings.
Lamenting that lot of time has been wasted in the last two to three Parliament sessions, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday asked the opposition to cooperate in the passage of the legislative business including the "most important" ordinance on Food security bill.
Nowhere on the planet, nowhere in mankind's history has such an idea taken the concrete shape in form of a law. The National Food Security Bill, which will come via ordinance and not after the debate in Parliament, is an incredible economic tool to tackle the hunger of poor Indians. Also, it has already been condemned widely as a political gimmick.
Terming the Bill as a 'non political bipartisan issue,' he hoped to have all political parties on board as the Bill would benefit over 75 per cent of rural households and 50 per cent of urban households in the country.
Only three percent of Indians pay income tax; our tax-GDP ratio is among the lowest in the world. This must change. Our elites must realise that India's poverty has damaging consequences for them, and that they can help decrease it. The food security bill, with all its limitations, will hopefully contribute to generating such awareness, says Praful Bidwai.
Critical of the hurried clearance of the food security ordinance, Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh said on Thursday the United Progressive Alliance government was just doing a "political gimmick in a hurry" before the 2014 general elections.
Amid the government's plan to take up and possibly pass the ambitious Food Security Bill in Parliament, Congress has issued a whip to its members in Lok Sabha to be present in the House on Wednesday and vote in favour of the legislation.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday termed Food Security Bill a "historic legislation" and asked party leaders to publicise its importance to masses as they gear up for elections scheduled early next year.
The food security programme is not restricted to the poor and the population covered by it is about three times the number of people below the poverty line, Parliament was told on Thursday.
Telangana Rashtriya Samithi chief K Chandrasekara Rao is on his way to Delhi, where he will reportedly meet the Congress top brass and urge them to pass a bill approving the creation of Telangana as soon as possible.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati supported Centre's food security scheme but disapproved of its step to bring an ordinance, saying the measure should have been discussed in Parliament and passed with consensus.
Terming the ordinance promulgated by the Union cabinet to implement the Food Security Bill as a "cruel joke" on democracy, Bharatiya Janat Party President Rajnath Singh said that his party would not oppose the passage of the bill in Parliament but seek amendments to it.
'Food security' will, unfortunately, become a giant boondoggle.
The government had pegged food subsidy at Rs 90,000 crore (Rs 900 billion) in the 2013-14 Union Budget.
Sonia Gandhi criticises the government's proposed delimitation, claiming it's a politically motivated move to delay the caste census and gain an unfair advantage, rather than genuinely promoting women's reservation.
Opposition leaders have criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation, calling it politically motivated and a misuse of official platforms during ongoing elections.
Going ahead with its "game changer" measure for next Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Tuesday rolled out the ambitious food security scheme in three states -- Delhi, Haryana and Uttarakhand with party President Sonia Gandhi hailing the measure as "historic" and "unparalleled".
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has refuted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claims about the state's fish production, accusing him of misrepresenting facts and alleging restrictions on non-vegetarian food consumption in BJP-ruled states.
Karex, the Malaysian company that makes roughly one in five of the world's condoms -- about five billion a year, supplying Durex and Trojan among others -- announced this week that it is raising prices by up to 30 percent. The reason is the Strait of Hormuz.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances