Revised Food Security Bill to be tabled in Lok Sabha today

NEW DELHI: The government is likely to table the revised National Food Security Bill on Thursday, which is aimed at providing a legal entitlement of cheap grains to almost 67% of the country's population.

"The Bill has been listed for Thursday in the Lok Sabha secretariat. We want to present this Bill on Thursday and pass it when Parliament reconvenes next month for the second half of the budget session," said a senior food ministry official. The Bill, which is the Congress' poll plank for the 2014 polls, has gained great importance after UPA-II's ally DMK pulled out of the government, making it vulnerable to early elections.

"The Congress would like to push the Bill through the Budget session to encash the benefit in the next polls, which is likely to take place earlier than expected," said Yudhveer Rana, a political commentator.

After clearing the Bill on Tuesday, the government has put it on fast track. The food ministry has accepted most of the objections raised by the opposition and several state governments during the consultation stage. It has given state governments the liberty to identify beneficiaries to take them along, besides retaining the entitlements for beneficiaries under the Antodaya Anna Yojana under which 35 kg of grains is provided per family.

"Now the government will have to face an acid test in Parliament as the Left Front is against the Bill and the BJP, the main opposition, too is not letting the government use this social welfare scheme as a poll-winning tool. In fact, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has objected to the implementation of this Bill in the present situation citing inadequate public distribution system," Rana said.