The Centre?s plan to introduce the National Food Security Bill, which envisages distribution of subsidised foodgrains to more than 63% of the population, in the upcoming winter season of Parliament is unlikely to happen. This is because of a large number of petitions received by the parliamentary panel looking into the proposed legislation.
The recently reconstituted 31-members parliamentary standing committee examining the legislation has been holding a series of meetings with the concerned ministries or departments such as food, agriculture, railways, expenditure besides the state governments.
The panel, chaired by Lok Sabha MP Vilas Muttemwar, has received a mammoth 1.7 lakh petitions from civil society groups and citizens giving their suggestions on the legislation. ?We have already conducted five daylong meetings this month with various stakeholders associated with the Bill and we will continue hold such meetings during coming few months,? Muttemwar told FE.
Muttemwar said many state governments such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have asked for expanding the coverage of the Bill, which is being ?discussed? with respective state governments.
?We are trying to build consensus on the proposed legislation among states and it would take few months before we prepare our report,? Muttemwar said.
Food minister KV Thomas had recently said the Centre is trying to introduce the Bill in the winter season.
Meanwhile, UP CM Akhilesh Yadav in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Bill in its present form won’t benefit poorer states and should be amended. Yadav demanded a universal coverage of subsidized foodgrains supply in rural UP and 95% coverage for the urban areas.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has already demanded the creation of a BPL commission for determining the number of families who would get subsidized grains under the food security law.
The Delhi government sought an option of direct cash transfer to BPL families instead of grains under the law.
Under the food Bill, the government had proposed to divide the targeted population under ?priority? and ?general? categories where rice, wheat and coarse grains would be distributed at R3, R2 and R1 a kg, respectively.
The Centre is also considering proposals to remove the categories as demanded by experts, including development economists John Dreze and Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen.
They have suggested giving uniform legal entitlement of at least 25 kg of foodgrains to 67% of the country’s population at a fixed rate of R 3 / kg rice, R2 / kg wheat and Re one per kg of millet.
The food bill on the other hand proposes 35 kg of grains to priority households (BPL families) and a minimum 15 kg for general households (APL families).
At present, under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), around 180 million households ? 65 million BPL and 115 million above poverty line (APL) category families ? get subsidised rations of 35 kg per month per family through the fair price shops.
