Indian government introduces food security bill

Indian government introduces food security bill

2011-12-23 09:19:56 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW DELHI (BNO NEWS) -- The Indian government on Thursday put a draft law before parliament which seeks to provide subsidized food to more than half of the country's 1.2 billion population, local media reported.

The Food Security Bill seeks to introduce a legal right on cheaper food grains to approximately 63.5 percent of the population. Up to 75 percent of the people in rural India will be covered, while about half of people will be covered in the urban centers, the Times of India reported.

Under the bill, every person belonging to a "priority household" would be provided with 7 kilograms (15.5 pounds) of rice, wheat and coarse grains. Rice would be provided at 3 rupees ($0.05) a kilogram (2.2 pounds), wheat at 2 rupees ($0.03) and coarse grains at 1 rupee ($0.01).

In addition, people belonging to the "general category" would get at least 3 kilograms (6.6. pounds) of grains at a rate not exceeding 50 percent of the minimum support price.

Earlier this week, the Cabinet approved the draft bill. Asked about the concerns raised by some opposition parties, Food Minister KV Thomas said: "The bill has been prepared after wide consultations in [the] last two-and-a-half years among various stakeholders including state governments."

The subsidy plan is likely to cost $19 billion and would be implemented in phases, according to Indian media reports. However, the bill has come under criticism since it doesn't address concerns about the fiscal burden.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister and leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party Mayawati said on Thursday that the bill was only tabled in Parliament by the ruling party as a political stunt in view of the 2012 assembly elections in five states. She said that the federal government is not addressing extremely important details such as funding and availability of the food grains.

According to the World Food Program (WFP), India is home to about 25 percent of the world's hungry poor. According to government figures, around 43 percent of children under the age of five years are malnourished and more than half of all pregnancy women aged between 15 and 49 years suffer from anemia.

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