Stating that the proposed Food Security Bill is “inadequate,” Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said on Sunday that the Left parties will stage an agitation pressing for the inclusion of everyone, irrespective of whether they are classified as below or above the poverty line.
Speaking at a public rally on the outskirts of the city, he said that the proposed Bill, which the Centre hopes to enact in the monsoon session of Parliament, is “inadequate” and will again divide the people on the lines of whether they are above or below the poverty line.
“Every family should be entitled to 35 kg of foodgrains at the rate of Rs. 2 per kg. Only the rich should be exempted from this privilege,” he said, adding that at least 80 per cent of the people must be covered under the public distribution system.
The Left parties will hold a meeting on May 23 where plans for an all-India campaign in support of this demand will be decided, he said.
“In the months of July and August when the government plans to pass this Bill, we will hold a sustained campaign in Delhi. This will follow a campaign across the country on this issue,” Mr. Karat said.
He said that despite a Supreme Court order directing the Centre to distribute foodgrains lying in godowns run by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the Congress-led UPA government was allowing it to rot.
According to newspaper reports, 5.5 crore tonnes of foodgrains are being left to rot in FCI godowns at a time when the people are not being able to cope with escalating prices, he said.
Describing the present UPA government at the Centre as the most corrupt government since Independence, Mr. Karat said: “Five years ago what you could buy for Rs. 20, today you will have to shell out Rs. 100. Such has been the rate of increase of prices over the last three years”.
He said that pressure from the Left Front had ensured that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed and the disinvestment of profit-making Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) prevented.