Committed to food security law: UPA

The government is committed to enacting the National Food Security Bill, which legally entitles poor families to five kilograms of subsidised grain per person per month, an official document said Thursday.

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi Wednesday appealed to the opposition to help pass the bill in public interest.

According to a handbook on the achievements of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the past nine years, there has been a more than threefold increase in food subsidy during this period, reflecting the government's commitment to ensuring adequate food at affordable prices for all.

According to the handbook, while the government provides wheat at Rs.2 per kg and rice at Rs.3 per kg for poor families, the subsidy burden will be to the extent of Rs.18.10 per kg and Rs.21.63 per kg for wheat and rice, respectively.

The document said efforts to increase foodgrain production have yielded results. Efforts to strengthen the agriculture sector have led to record production of foodgrain in recent years.

Agriculture credit has increased fivefold to help small farmers improve productivity, it said.

Stocks are at record levels - rice at 347 lakh million tonnes and wheat at 427 lakh million tonnes.