House in disarray, Sonia rolls out ‘game changer’
22 Aug 2013 5:22 AM IST
Despite the aggressive Opposition stonewalling attempts of the treasury benches to get the National Food Security Bill 2013 discussed and passed in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the Congress-led state governments rolled out the schemes in Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. The Congress poll managers chose the birth anniversary of late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi for the launch of the programme, which they believe could prove to be a game changer ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi launched the scheme for the national Capital at a well-attended function at Talkatora stadium. The rolling out of the programme could come handy for the Sheila Dikshit government, which is seeking re-election when the state assembly goes to polls in November-December this year. Delhi was the first state to clear the scheme.
‘We have people who still don’t get food and there are children who are malnourished. We decided to bring this scheme so that every poor gets food and no child sleeps without food,’ Gandhi said at Talkatora Stadium. She gave away food security ration cards to beneficiaries along with a 5kg packet of rice. Under the scheme, a total of 73.5 lakh people will get foodgrain at highly subsidised rates.
‘The guarantee of food provided by food security scheme on such a large scale is unparalleled in the world,’ she said.
With an eye on the upcoming assembly polls, Gandhi praised Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit for her efforts for implementing the scheme. She also patted Dikshit for transforming the infrastructure in the national capital, saying Delhi is no longer the same as it used to be 15 years ago. On the other hand, Delhi BJP activists demonstrated outside the venue of the function against the ‘implementation of the bill which was still to be passed by parliament.’
In Ahmedabad, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, indirectly criticising the rolling out of the scheme said, ‘The directionless leadership was making programmes and finding ways and means to save the government.’ Modi had written a few days back against the implementation of the scheme in the present form.
In the states of Haryana, Uttarakhand and Arunachal, the schemes were rolled out respectively by chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Vijay Bahuguna and Nabam Tuki respectively at Panipat, Dehradun and Itanagar. Lauching the scheme, Hood said, ‘The programme will benefit more than 1.26 crore people in the state.’ Hooda said that the state government had also started ‘Dal Roti’ scheme under which 2.5 kg daal per month would be given at the subsidised rate of Rs 20 per kg per family.
In Dehradun, chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, launching the scheme for the disaster-hit state, said, ‘Considering the massive losses suffered by people of Uttarakhand, in the wake of the June calamity, the Food Security Act assumes even greater significance.’ Bahuguna announced that a Food Security Commission will also be constituted for the effective implementation of the Act.
Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nabam Tuki, launching the scheme said, ‘A total of 8.71 lakh people including 7.9 lakh rural population and 1.62 lakh urban population will be covered, recording an increase of almost 70 per cent of beneficiaries in comparison to 3,92,843 population under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) earlier purchasing rice under BPL and AAY scheme.’
Congress president Sonia Gandhi launched the scheme for the national Capital at a well-attended function at Talkatora stadium. The rolling out of the programme could come handy for the Sheila Dikshit government, which is seeking re-election when the state assembly goes to polls in November-December this year. Delhi was the first state to clear the scheme.
‘We have people who still don’t get food and there are children who are malnourished. We decided to bring this scheme so that every poor gets food and no child sleeps without food,’ Gandhi said at Talkatora Stadium. She gave away food security ration cards to beneficiaries along with a 5kg packet of rice. Under the scheme, a total of 73.5 lakh people will get foodgrain at highly subsidised rates.
‘The guarantee of food provided by food security scheme on such a large scale is unparalleled in the world,’ she said.
With an eye on the upcoming assembly polls, Gandhi praised Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit for her efforts for implementing the scheme. She also patted Dikshit for transforming the infrastructure in the national capital, saying Delhi is no longer the same as it used to be 15 years ago. On the other hand, Delhi BJP activists demonstrated outside the venue of the function against the ‘implementation of the bill which was still to be passed by parliament.’
In Ahmedabad, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, indirectly criticising the rolling out of the scheme said, ‘The directionless leadership was making programmes and finding ways and means to save the government.’ Modi had written a few days back against the implementation of the scheme in the present form.
In the states of Haryana, Uttarakhand and Arunachal, the schemes were rolled out respectively by chief ministers Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Vijay Bahuguna and Nabam Tuki respectively at Panipat, Dehradun and Itanagar. Lauching the scheme, Hood said, ‘The programme will benefit more than 1.26 crore people in the state.’ Hooda said that the state government had also started ‘Dal Roti’ scheme under which 2.5 kg daal per month would be given at the subsidised rate of Rs 20 per kg per family.
In Dehradun, chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, launching the scheme for the disaster-hit state, said, ‘Considering the massive losses suffered by people of Uttarakhand, in the wake of the June calamity, the Food Security Act assumes even greater significance.’ Bahuguna announced that a Food Security Commission will also be constituted for the effective implementation of the Act.
Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nabam Tuki, launching the scheme said, ‘A total of 8.71 lakh people including 7.9 lakh rural population and 1.62 lakh urban population will be covered, recording an increase of almost 70 per cent of beneficiaries in comparison to 3,92,843 population under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) earlier purchasing rice under BPL and AAY scheme.’
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