West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s move to stall decision on the National Food Security Bill by writing a letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh just on the eve of the Cabinet meeting appears to have been more for political reasons than any serious objections.
Sources in the food ministry said that the Cabinet note on the Food Bill had included four key demands of the West Bengal government, which were already agreed upon by the Centre.
The 230-page-long Cabinet note on the bill had included responses of state governments, which were sent by October 31.
The West Bengal government had sought that the state should have an option to distribute priority and general group list under the Food Bill on a weekly basis, apart from a monthly exercise based on social justice criteria to which the food ministry had noted that it had no objection, sources said.
The West Bengal government further mentioned that the financial liability is not mentioned and demanded it be on cost-sharing basis.
The ministry noted that the draft bill provides for cost-sharing arrangement and the Centre is already bearing the cost for `1,000 payment to pregnant and lactating women in 52 districts as part of Janani Suraksha Yojna.
“The ministry was also considerate to the demand of West Bengal that restriction of free meals to those suffering starvation for six months be dropped. The ministry had also agreed to the fourth demand that the Centre should take responsibility of providing additional foodgrains in case of shortage,” sources added.
The food ministry also countered contention of subsidy burden expanding further, as officials said that even if there were no Food Bill the foodgrains subsidy would go up once the ongoing Socio-Economic Caste Survey is concluded. The current subsidy bill of `65,045 crores is based on the 2001 Census and also on the poverty line of 1992-93 only, which would be revised soon.
While the current foodgrains requirement for public distribution system of 53 million tonnes, the Food Bill would need just 61 million tonnes.
The officials said that the current storage of 63 million tonnes, along with about 30 million tonnes of addition in the next five years, would be enough for hassle-free implementation of the legislation, said the officials.
On the availability of enough foodgrains, the ministry said that the Centre has already allowed for export of 20 million tonnes of wheat and 30 million tonnes of rice for export.