Not confident of securing support in Parliament, the UPA government Wednesday decided to opt for the ordinance route to bring the National Food Security Bill into force, that seeks to cover two-thirds of country’s population and will cost the exchequer upto `1,25,000 crores a year.
Though Parliament’s Monsoon Session is due to begin soon, the government hurried through the ordinance in a bid to cash in on the issue in crucial state elections in October-November in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi.
The renewed push came after the Cabinet, at its June 13 meeting, deferred a decision on an ordinance and tasked parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath and minister of state for food and consumer affairs K.V. Thomas to build a political consensus. Parliamentary affairs minister Mr Nath didn’t hold any meetings, but Prof. Thomas met agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, seen as the measure’s chief opponent, on Wednesday morning.
The government is likely to send the proposed ordinance to President Pranab Mukherjee for approval Thursday.
While Congress-ruled states are likely to roll out the scheme soon, other states might take up to six months at least to put in place the necessary infrastructure, a senior official said.
The Food Bill seeks to provide legal entitlement for 5 kg of foodgrains for each person every month at the highly subsidised rate of `1-3 per kg and will cover 75 per cent of the population in rural areas and 50 per cent in urban areas.