Notwithstanding ?serious differences? among its members, a parliamentary panel reviewing the National Food Security Bill, 2011, will submit its report to the Lok Sabha Speaker on Wednesday. The government aims to introduce the Bill in the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament.
FE had reported last month that the panel would submit its report by mid-January.
The 31-member panel, chaired by Lok Sabha MP Vilas Muttemwar, had been examining the Bill since October last year. Flooded with around 1.5 lakh petitions as well as comments from state governments, experts and civil society groups, the panel had to hold daily meetings to finalise its report.
?Many members, because of their political affiliations, have opposed the panel?s suggestions. We will include their views in the final report, to be submitted on Wednesday,? Muttemwar told FE.
Sources said the parliamentary panel has not suggested ?drastic? changes to the proposed legislation, which envisages distribution of subsidised grain to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the poor in urban India.
It is estimated that around 80 crore people will be entitled to 5 kg of subsidised grain per month. Rice will be available at?R3 a kg, wheat at R2 a kg and cereal R1 per kg.
While the government had budgeted R74, 551 crore for food subsidy during 2012-13, the actual subsidy bill is set to cross R1 lakh crore because of the massive procurement done by the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
Once the food Bill is enacted, the total subsidy outlay could reach a massive R1.5 lakh crore.
The food Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha by food minister KV Thomas in December 2011. It was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee chaired by Muttemwar for approval. Subsequently, the panel was reconstituted in October last year as the earlier panel?s term lapsed.
After the panel report is submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker, the food ministry will examine the proposed legislation before finalising a draft Bill for Cabinet approval. ?We need about 30-45 days to assess the panel?s report before drafting a fresh Bill for Cabinet,? said Thomas. ?We propose to introduce the Bill in the Budget session,? he said.
In the earlier versions, the food Bill had categorised the intended beneficiaries into two: ?priority? and ?general?, on the basis of poverty levels.? As per the panel?s view, the food Bill should be linked to the Aadhaar scheme, which provides every citizen with a unique identification number.
Several states have expressed reservations about the proposed food Bill. Chhattisgarh has already enacted its food security law under which close to 90% of the population will be entitled to 35 kg of rice a month at a token price ? 2 kg of pulses at R5 per kg and free iodised salt.
Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had said that the Bill, in its present form, would not benefit the poorer states and should be amended. Yadav demanded a universal coverage of subsidised grain supply in rural UP and 95% coverage for the urban areas.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar demanded the creation of a BPL commission for determining the number of families who would get subsidised grain .?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 fair-price shops.
