The Standing Committee of Parliament on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution is in favour of passing the Food Security Bill, without any major amendments to it.
The draft report of the Committee, which has been circulated to members, said since the Food Ministry has already held detailed consultations with various ministries, State Governments and other stakeholders on the Bill, it may be passed by Parliament.
The Committee, headed by veteran Congress MP V. Muttemwar, will adopt the recommendations made in the draft report at a meeting scheduled on Friday.
The draft report has suggested that the entitlement of foodgrains could be fixed at 5 kg per person in all families covered under the Bill. The Bill envisages 7 kg per person for priority families and 3 kg each for a member in a general family.
On the division of beneficiaries into rural, urban, priority and general, the draft report says that the State Governments should have the flexibility to extend the coverage out of their own resources to include more people.
It has also said that the identification of priority and general households should be fair, transparent, logical and based on a sound rationale. It urged the Centre, in consultation with States, to devise clearly defined criteria for deciding the beneficiary.
Considering the concerns of the Agriculture Ministry that if there is a decrease in production it may hamper the implementation of the scheme, it has asked the Government to take pro-active steps to ensure that production and procurement of foodgrains keeps pace with the requirements.
The draft report also wanted the Food Ministry to evolve a mechanism with the Railways for the movement of foodgrains in an effective way.
On the suggestion in the Food Bill for introducing cash transfer and food coupons, it said the Government should ensure that banking infrastructure is made available in remote, rural and hilly areas of the country.
The draft report also said that the States should be given at least one year to complete the preparatory work to implement the proposed Act. The BJP and the Left parties are likely to move dissent notes to the report.