Food security bill: Chidambaram hints at Parliament special session

The government will try to secure passage of the legislation on food security in a special session of parliament after consulting the opposition parties, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters here Thursday.

Food Minister K.V. Thomas earlier suggested that the government will take the ordinance route to bring in the National Food Security Bill, a legislation that Congress president Sonia Gandhi is pushing for.

The bill aims to provide subsidised food grain to around 67 percent of India's 1.2 billion people. Around 800 million people would thus get the subsidised grain, at an initial cost of around Rs.1.3 lakh crore to the exchequer.