President Pranab Mukherjee’s assent to the Food Security Ordinance on Friday has emboldened the Congress to anchor its campaign for the upcoming Assembly polls and the next general elections on the covetous scheme.
Food Minister K.V. Thomas, who spoke to reporters at the Congress office, said the Government was making every effort to address the problem of malnutrition through the scheme. He said pulses, edible oil and locally cooked meal would be distributed through public distribution outlets under the scheme. Thomas and the party’s media cell chairman, Ajay Maken, said 82 crore people, mostly the poor and farmers, will benefit.
The Government has decided to convene the Monsoon Session next month — most probably from August 8 — and the Ordinance would naturally be tabled in Parliament. However, the Congress feels it will not be possible to hold a peaceful session, as the Opposition and its own supporters in the UPA are likely to obstruct the proceedings “for one reason or the other.”
The Ordinance will lapse if it is not considered in the Monsoon Session. “We will re-promulgate the Ordinance if the Opposition continues to disrupt the House,” a top Congress leader claimed.
The Opposition parties are gearing up to oppose what they call the Congress’ vote-catching legislation.
The Opposition as also UPA supporter Samajwadi Party have demanded a discussion on the Food Bill in Parliament. The parties had urged the President not to sign the Ordinance as it would go against the propriety of the House. CPI(M) leader in the Lok Sabha, Basudeb Acharia, said a number of amendments were pending with Parliament. “It has to be debated and discussed,” he said, adding that the Government had delayed the Monsoon session on purpose to ensure that the Ordinance could be promulgated. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha said the Ordinance route was absolutely unacceptable.
The Bill, a pet project of Congress President, Sonia Gandhi, aims to give legal rights to 67 per cent of the population over a uniform quantity of 5 kg foodgrains a month at Rs 1-3 a kg. The initial annual cost for the scheme is around Rs 1.25-lakh crore.
Currently, the Government incurs a subsidy burden of about Rs 1-lakh crore in providing subsidised foodgrains to the poor through the public distribution system. The implementation of the Bill will also increase foodgrain requirement by around seven million tonnes to about 61.23 million tonnes.