As the party has already indicated its intent to cash-in electorally on food ordinance in upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned in propagating the food security scheme that will provide right to cheap food grains to 82 crore people.
The intent appeared to be more obvious on Monday when food minister K.V. Thomas gave a detailed briefing over the ambitious measure to AICC general secretary Ajay Maken and other party spokespersons. Mr Maken is the chief of the AICC communication department.
On many previous occasions Congress leaders have repeatedly hailed the food security measure as a game changer in the Lok Sabha battle.
Congress-ruled Delhi, where Assembly polls are due by year-end, is all set to become the first state in the country to roll out the food security scheme.
Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit on Monday said that the programme would be launched on August 20, the birth anniversary of former PM Rajiv Gandhi.
Reports had it that several states including Congress -ruled Karnataka, BJP-led Chhattigarh and SP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and JD(U)-run Bihar could see early roll out of the programme.
Billed as the world’s largest social welfare programme, the government had last week decided to issue the ordinance to give nation’s two-third population the right to get 5 kg of foodgrains every month at highly subsidised rates of `1-3 per kg.
The bill has been the pet project of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi who is also UPA chairperson. Mr Thomas had said the food security programme, when implemented, will be the biggest in the world with the government spending an estimated `125,000 crore annually on supply of about 62 million tonnes of rice, wheat and coarse cereals to 67 per cent of the population.