CPI(M) to move amendments to Food Security Bill: Yechury

CPI(M) today alleged the UPA government's legislation will create "food insecurity" in the country and said the party will move amendments to the bill when it comes up for discussion and passage in Parliament.
"The present 35 kgs entitlement to BPL families will now be cut down by 10 kgs to just 25 kgs for a five-member family and even less if the family is smaller. This is punishment for a state like Kerala, where the family size may be three or four and therefore the entitlement will be only 15 kgs to 20 kgs," CPI(M) politburo said here.
The party said it had demanded that the minimum should be 35 kgs per household and should be increased if there are more members but the government has preferred to cut down on existing entitlements.

"This is food insecurity not security. ...When the ordinance comes, we will examine if it is the same draft or a different draft. Then we will put our concrete amendments to improve the food security to make it universal and to make it cheaper," Party leader Sitaram Yechury said after the politburo meeting.