'Government can go in for ordinance route to implement Food Bill'

NEW DELHI: The government could go in for the ordinance route to implement the ambitious National Food Security Bill as also the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, Congress sources said today.

A senior party leader, who declined to be identified, said the government will have to be pro-active on the two key bills if the opposition plays the spoiler and it could even go for the ordinance route to secure its purpose.

Congress has often dubbed the Food Bill and the Land Bill as "game-changers" as these could help the party in elections. The Lok Sabha today failed to pass the much-hyped National Food Security Bill because of din in the House.

The Food Bill seeks to ensure that people get adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices. Implementation of the Bill, aimed at providing legal entitlement to food to around 67 per cent of the population, is likely to cost the exchequer around Rs 1.23 lakh crore.

Food Minister K V Thomas moved the Bill in Lok Sabha for consideration but the uproar over issues like Sarabjit Singh's death, Chinese incursion and other issues forced adjournment of the House for the day without the passage of the measure.

The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill piloted by Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh is also on the legislative agenda of Lok Sabha.

Amid talk that the Budget Session could be cut short in view of the Opposition's stalling tactics, the government has given clear signals that it wants to go ahead with these ambitious measures.

The Land Acquisition Bill has provisions for a humane, transparent process to acquire land for industrialisation, infrastructure development and urbanisation.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said it was incorrect to say the government's concerns were over with the passage of the Finance Bill. "All other bills in my view are equally important and I think an effort must be made to pass them," he had said.

Thought the Budget Session is scheduled to end on May 10, a section in Congress party was of the view that it should be cut short in view of the continuous stalling of Parliament by the Opposition.