Food bill to top parliament’s agenda: Chidambaram

Finance minister P Chidambaram said on Tuesday that the Food Security Bill would be the first issue to be discussed in the monsoon session of Parliament, and was vital to address the problems of hunger and malnutrition in India.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Chidambaram said all political parties who believed that hunger and malnutrition should be addressed would support the bill.

He further said that almost all state governments are ready to implement a food security act.

Asked why the bill had to be promulgated through an ordinance, Chidambaram said this was done after consulting the opposition parties.

He also said that the Bharatiya Janata Party was not speaking in one voice on food security.

The food security ordinance was signed by President Pranab Mukherjee on 5 July. It aims to provide grain every month to two-thirds of India's population at highly subsidised rates.

Political parties have sharply criticised the promulgation of the ordinance, calling it undemocratic and demanding that the Food Security Bill should be debated in parliament.

The Food Security programme when implemented will be the biggest in the world, with the government expecting to spend estimated an estimated Rs1.25 lakh crore rupees annually on it.

The Food Security Bill was tabled during the budget session of Parliament, but could not be taken up for discussion because of opposition-led disruptions of proceedings.

The bill aims to give legal rights to 67 per cent of the population for a uniform quantity of 5kg of food grains at a fixed price of Rs1-3 per kg through ration shops.