“The discussion on the Food Bill remained inconclusive. We are trying our best to introduce the Bill in this session,” Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution (Independent) K.V. Thomas told journalists after the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Informed sources said a decision on the Bill got deferred due to paucity of time as there were a number of items on the agenda. The Prime Minister wanted to hear all the views before taking a decision. The Bill is likely to be taken up in the next Cabinet meeting. Efforts are on to introduce it in this session itself.
There are concerns about the identification of beneficiaries which is being done through a social and economic caste census in rural areas. No such exercise has even begun in urban areas. Moreover, there are issues about the poverty line criterion based on per capita spending per day, which has been challenged by civil society groups and frowned upon by the Supreme Court.
Issues such as the availability of foodgrains and the food subsidy requirement also need to be discussed in detail, the sources said.
The Bill seeks to provide 7 kg of rice and wheat per person per month to ‘priority’ households at Rs. 3 and Rs. 2 per kg, respectively. Persons under the ‘general’ households would get at least 3 kg at 50 per cent of the minimum support price.When the law is implemented, the food subsidy bill is expected to rise to nearly Rs.1 lakh crore from the current Rs. 63,000 crore, while foodgrains requirement would go up to 61 million tonnes from 55 million tonnes.