Kerala seeks more time to implement Food Security bill

Kerala government has sought 10 more months for implementing schemes under the Food Security bill, state's Food Minister Anoop Jacob said today.
Replying to a calling attention on the necessity to alleviate the apprehensions of the people while implementing the FSB, he said the Centre had fixed July 5 as the date to implement the schemes and state has sought 10 more months.
Jacob said there was no room for apprehension that a large number of people would be out of the purview of public distribution system once the Food bill was implemented.
He also said BPL card holders would become priority group under the new act and APL non-priority category. Each person in the priority group would get seven kg of foodgrains under the new system, he added.

There would not be any change in the present PDS (public distribution system) in the state, he added.
Moving the calling attention motion, CPI leader and former minister C Divakaran said Food Security Bill would 'destroy' the well organised PDS in the state and ration cards would cease to exist.
The quantity of foodgrains received from Centre to state would come down drastically, he alleged and demanded that the UDF government reject the Bill.
He also asked government to hold discussions with persons concerned before taking a decision to implement the schemes under the Act.