Cabinet clears ordinance to implement Food Security Bill
4 July 2013 5:22 AM IST
In a decision which would have huge ramifications, the government on Wednesday decided to promulgate an ordinance to implement the Food Security Bill. This new law is directed to guaranteeing two thirds of the population of the country right to 5 kg of food grain every month at highly subsidised rates of Rs 1-3 per kg.
The ordinance, which will guarantee 5 kg of rice, wheat and coarse cereals per month per person at a fixed price of Rs 3, 2, 1, respectively, will come into effect after President Pranab Mukherjee signs it. The cabinet had, last month, deferred a decision on the issue.
At Rs 1,25,000 crore of government support, the food security programme will be the largest in the world and India will join select league of countries that guarantee majority of their population food grains.
The ordinance is being promulgated just weeks before the scheduled Monsoon session of Parliament. The ordinance will have to be approved by both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha within six weeks of its next seating before it can be made into a law or it would lapse.
The welfare scheme has been the pet project of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has been keen to push the bill. The food security bill is being viewed as a major vote-getter, as assembly elections are due in five states and the Congress being in a direct fight with the BJP in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Delhi.
Officials said the ordinance will be presented to the President on Thursday and once he signs it, rules will be framed. The programme will be rolled out from August after state governments prepare the beneficiary list and the scheme will take at least six months to cover the entire country.
The BJP has already stated that it was principally not opposed to the passing of the food security bill but insisted that it be debated in Parliament.
‘The Congress is running away from debate over Food Security Bill by bringing ordinance,’ said BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman. The BJP had in fact proposed the idea of preponing the Monsoon session, so that the bill could be debated in Parliament.
Samajwadi Party, which has been an ally of the government and whose support will be required to pass the bill in Parliament, has already expressed its reservations over the bill with SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, terming it ‘anti-farmer’.
‘ There has been a constitutional legacy that the government does not bring an ordinance just two weeks before Parliament session. The Congress has done this for vote bank politics and we will oppose this bill in Parliament,’ said SP general secretary, Ram Gopal Yadav.
The ordinance, which will guarantee 5 kg of rice, wheat and coarse cereals per month per person at a fixed price of Rs 3, 2, 1, respectively, will come into effect after President Pranab Mukherjee signs it. The cabinet had, last month, deferred a decision on the issue.
At Rs 1,25,000 crore of government support, the food security programme will be the largest in the world and India will join select league of countries that guarantee majority of their population food grains.
The ordinance is being promulgated just weeks before the scheduled Monsoon session of Parliament. The ordinance will have to be approved by both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha within six weeks of its next seating before it can be made into a law or it would lapse.
The welfare scheme has been the pet project of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has been keen to push the bill. The food security bill is being viewed as a major vote-getter, as assembly elections are due in five states and the Congress being in a direct fight with the BJP in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Delhi.
Officials said the ordinance will be presented to the President on Thursday and once he signs it, rules will be framed. The programme will be rolled out from August after state governments prepare the beneficiary list and the scheme will take at least six months to cover the entire country.
The BJP has already stated that it was principally not opposed to the passing of the food security bill but insisted that it be debated in Parliament.
‘The Congress is running away from debate over Food Security Bill by bringing ordinance,’ said BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman. The BJP had in fact proposed the idea of preponing the Monsoon session, so that the bill could be debated in Parliament.
Samajwadi Party, which has been an ally of the government and whose support will be required to pass the bill in Parliament, has already expressed its reservations over the bill with SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, terming it ‘anti-farmer’.
‘ There has been a constitutional legacy that the government does not bring an ordinance just two weeks before Parliament session. The Congress has done this for vote bank politics and we will oppose this bill in Parliament,’ said SP general secretary, Ram Gopal Yadav.
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