Congress firm on food security bill

The Union cabinet may not have okayed it, but the Congress remains firm on the proposed security bill.

“This is our commitment to the common man, and after more consultations with our allies, we shall get it tabled in parliament,” party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said.

The bill did not get past the union cabinet as agriculture minister Sharad Pawar opposed it on the grounds of its impact on the economy. Some Congress leaders also feel that the subsidy burden on account of the Food Security Bill could have a crippling impact on the economy during these difficult times.

“With 75 per cent of the rural population and another 50 per cent of the urban population covered by the proposed bill, the burden could be upwards of Rs1.5 lakh crore, and this would be quite huge for the economy,” a party MP said.

But with Congress president Sonia Gandhi keen on having this law enacted to ensure that the poor have the required food security cover, the government would have to find ways and means to see that the bill gets past the cabinet, and also to raise the resources for implementing the provision.

Pawar’s objections to the bill also stem from his concern that making available a commodity that sells in the open market at Rs15-20 per kilo for Rs2 or Rs3 would have an adverse impact on the economy. He is understood to have argued that it would be understandable if the subsidy is some percentage of the prevailing market price. But when a commodity is offered to a large section of the population at a fixed price that has no relation to the market price, it is unrealistic.