Comments
The Food Security Bill has been cleared by the Union Cabinet.
The Bill, once enacted, will provide subsidised foodgrains to 62.5 per cent of the total population. The Government aims to introduce the Bill in the ongoing session of Parliament.
The Bill is expected to set the stage for providing not less than 7 kg of foodgrains per person per month for “priority”, below poverty line (BPL) households.
These households will get a minimum of 7 kg of foodgrains every month per person at highly subsidised rates. Rice will be made available at not less than Rs 3 per kg, wheat at Rs 2 per kg and coarse grains at not less than Rs 1 per kg.
Other households – designated as general households – will be provided 3 kg of foodgrains per capita per month. Pricing under this category will not exceed 50 per cent of the minimum support price for wheat, coarse grain and rice.
Almost 75 per cent of all the rural households and at least 50 per cent of urban households are planned to be covered by the Food Security Bill.
Of the 75 per cent rural households, nearly 46 per cent will be “priority” households and remaining counted as general households. On the other hand, within the 50 per cent urban households proposed to be covered in the Bill, nearly 28 per cent will be “priority” households, and the remaining will be general households.
The Central Government will prescribe guidelines for the identification of “priority” and “general” households. This will have exclusion criteria, as well. On the basis of these guidelines, the State Governments will identify such households. The list of such households will be made available in the public domain.
The Bill also contains special provisions for pregnant women. It also talks of nutritious take home rations and/or freshly cooked meals throughout the year through the local anganwadi for all children in the age group of 0-3 years.
Also, all children in the age group of 3-6 years will get freshly cooked meals in the local anganwadi for at least 300 days in a year.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.