Sonia: Farmers top UPA priority
Making a strong pitch for smooth passage of the landmark Food Security Bill, the Congress president said the measure is a “historic opportunity” to provide food security to tens of millions of people in the country, which will end the problem of hunger once for all.
Dismissing the apprehensions expressed by a section of Indian polity on whether the ambitious scheme could be implemented, Mrs Gandhi said, “The question is not whether we have enough resources or not and whether it would benefit the farmers or not. We have to arrange resources for it. We have to do it.” She said farmers and agriculture have always remained priority of the UPA government.
Agreeing that reforming public distribution system (PDS) was a must for the food law, Mrs Gandhi noted that there was basic need to remove the leakages to ensure that benefits of the food bill reached the intended beneficiaries. She said, the Congress had made a commitment to the nation in the 2009 election manifesto to bring forward such legislation.
It is one in a series of various rights promised and provided by UPA like Right to Information, Right to Education, Right to Work and Right to Forest Produce, Mrs Gandhi said. The Congress president said, “This legislation is only a beginning. As we move forward, we will be open to constructive suggestions.”
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