-The Financial Express
Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said the proposed food security Act should target only needy sections of society for nutritional cover, citing an adverse impact on economy in case its ambit is widened — a stance contrary to the draft bill approved by the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) in July.
The draft bill provides for the supply of subsidised coarse cereals for nutrional food security to the entled families. The Bill aims to provide legal entitlement for subsidised grains to 75% of the rural households, of which 46% households would come under the ‘priority’ category. Each member of the ‘priority’ households will get 7 kg of subsidised grains a month— rice at Rs2 per kg, wheat at Rs 3 and coarse cereals at Re1.