Thomas hopes half of India will implement Food Bill by Dec

Big States like UP, Punjab flay bill provisions; TN seeks more time

Even as big states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab today expressed strong reservations to the National Food Security Act, food minister K.V. Thomas expressed the hope that almost half of them including opposition BJP-ruled ones will be ready to implement the Bill by end of December.

Addressing reporters after the two-day conference of state food secretaries and ministers in the capital to iron out the glitches in the food bill, Thomas said  a committee of secretaries has been constituted under the chairmanship of union food secretary to address issues related to sharing of financial burden of transportation, storage etc of grains under the Bill.

"No states have said they will not implement the law," he said, adding that the committee of secretaries will also prepare a draft on revised PDS (control) order to align it with the provisions of the food law.

Food Secretary Sudhir Kumar, who also attended the conference said that around Rs 10,000 crore is the cumulative expenditure on transportation and storage of foodgrains and commission to ration shop owners which currently is either borne by the states or passed on to consumer. But after the Bill, Centre will share the burden, in what proportion will be worked out by the committee.

Meanwhile, states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab flayed the Centre’s food bill. UP was of the view that Centre should bear the entire burden of the Bill, while Punjab said that it will encourage black-marketing.

Out of 28 states and seven union territories, 22 food ministers were present in the meeting and the rest were represented by senior officials.  Notably, food ministers from BJP ruled states Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh abstained from the meeting. Food Minister of Delhi, which was first to announce the implementation of the law, was also not present.

Tamil Nadu Food Minister R Kamraj said the coverage of urban population at 50 per cent and one-year time limit for identification of eligible households was "not sufficient".    Kerala Food Minister Anoop Jacob sought additional allocation of 2.57 lakh tonne foodgrains at APL (above poverty line) rates during a transition period of three years to cover those families who are excluded from the law.      

Parliament recently passed the food law which aims at providing cheaper foodgrain to 82 crore population at Rs 1-3/kg. Earlier, in the day agriculture minister Sharad Pawar who inaugurated the conference said that  he didn’t have any reservation on a social security programme covering the poor and needy sector of the society, but it must be ensured that grain requirement under the Bill should be through domestic production and not-imported grains.