Thomas says there's consensus on Food Bill

Union minister for food and public distribution K V Thomas said a consensus had evolved among the ruling UPA coalition partners on the Food Security Bill.

He told Business Standard that the Bill would be introduced in the winter session of Parliament, possibly on the coming Wednesday.

However, the Trinamool Congress says it is still “studying” the Bill, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) is still in opposition to it.

The Bill will not only step up procurement but also inflate the food subsidy. The NCP said the legislation would raise the annual food subsidy by at least Rs 35,000 crore and the government will have to arrange 63 million tonnes of foodgrain. If the holes in the Public Distribution System (PDS) are added, the bill will careen out of control.

While Thomas bravely said that “money was no problem”, it remains to be seen how the government would reconcile the differences. The opposition has already made it clear that states where it is in power should not be expected to pay for the pro-poor measure. “Bihar has still not implemented the Right to Education Act; and, yes, it is a fundamental right; and, yes, we are in violation of the Constitution. But what can we do? We don’t have the money to create the infrastructure needed to provide universal education,” said Janata Dal(U) spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari. “It will be the same story with the Food Security Bill.”

Tiwari said in Bihar the population per sq km is more than in other states and the number of poor (Below Poverty Line) is also more than the government had enumerated. No one had a clear idea how many poor people were there in the state. Worse, a swathe of them were not even recognised as entities by the state. “The Bill is welcome but identification of the beneficiaries should be accurate and the Centre should finance it (the project),” Tiwari added.