Food Bill passed in Rajya Sabha

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 2:  

The Rajya Sabha discussed and passed the National Food Security Bill here on Monday after the Government assured the elders that all existing schemes for public distribution will be protected under the new law.

A statutory resolution against the Food Security Ordinance, moved by the Opposition, was defeated by the House.

Earlier, the Opposition alleged that the Food Security Ordinance was an abuse of the legislative power to issue Ordinances.

Initiating the debate, Opposition leader Arun Jaitley said the Government's aim is just to get votes.

He said the "much touted" Food Bill will see an increase in the subsidy by only Rs 12,000 crore.

He said States such as Chhattisgarh have better legislation than that of the Food Bill of the Centre.

Senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said the UPA forgotten the hungry citizens for about five years.

"UPA promised a new law on food security in June 2009. We are in the second half of 2013. For all these years you have forgotten the food insecure people. Now suddenly before the elections you have become so concerned about their food security," he said.

Pointing out that the Bill failed to give importance to local self Governments, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said unless panchayats were given the power to monitor the public distribution system, it will not function in a proper manner.

The Left parties feared that the Centre will use the Bill to "impose" its "neo-liberal" economic agenda on the States. They demanded universal public distribution system.

300 AMENDMENTS MOVED

The elders had moved about 300 amendments to the Bill.

The Food and Consumer Affairs Minister K.V. Thomas said the Government has taken several measures to plug the loopholes in the distribution system.