The first draft, which was put up for public consultation including inputs from state governments, is being revised to reflect the political priorities of the Congress.
Even as the government gives final shape to the bill it will take to the Cabinet, the debate within the government on the spread of the beneficiary net is now embroiled in controversy with the Planning Commission affidavit before the Supreme Court.
The Planning Commission’s affidavit in the apex court laying down the poverty line had stirred a controversy and embarrassed the UPA. Though the Planning Commission and rural development ministry sought to bring out a compromise joint public statement, the government has been unable to decide if it will also file a corrective affidavit in the court.
Sources in the government said the plan panel continued to be a divided house on the issue. The courts had asked why the government used the poverty line figures as an artificial cap on the number of beneficiaries for government programmes.
But, sources said, the bill is expected to be closer to the recommendations of the National Advisory Council than the first draft which had drawn large protests from the Right to Food campaign as well as some council members.
Besides the public distribution system, the council had also recommended turning existing government programmes into legal rights for beneficiaries, including the Integrated Child Development Scheme, the Mid-day Meal programme and pension and cash benefit schemes for mothers.
They had also recommended a default inclusion of vulnerable sections into the beneficiary list besides running special nutrition programmes for specific sections. The original government bill had not included many of these recommendations but the final draft is expected to be more accommodative.