Left Front begins stir for a better food security bill

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, the Left Front has upped the ante against the government over the food security bill, demanding a universal public distribution system and scrapping of Planning Commission's poverty estimates.

CPM, CPI, RSP and All India Forward Bloc - kick-started a five-day sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar on Monday.

Senior Left leaders, including CPM leaders Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat, Basudeb Acharia, CPI's AB Bardhan, S Sudhakar Reddy, D Raja, RSP's Abani Roy, TJ Chandrachoodan and Forward Bloc's Debabrata Biswas launched the stir on Monday morning. The leaders criticised the Congress-led UPA government for 'spiraling' prices.

Karat said that Congress government under PV Narasimha Rao had decided to reduce food subsidy by introducing targeted or focused public distribution system.

Blaming the approach for the suffering of people, Karat said that the Left stood for a universal distribution system and no division of below or above poverty line. CPI veteran AB Bardhan attacked the draft food bill under consideration.