Food Security Bill launched in Delhi

Launching the government's ambitious food security programme in Delhi on Tuesday, Congress president and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi said the legal right to food is "unparalleled" in the world and will ensure that no poor in India remain hungry.

Delhi is among the first states to launch the programme that is expected to provide cheap staple food to two-thirds of the nation's population.

The launch of the programme - seen as both a major welfare as well as populist move designed to swing votes for a beleaguered Congress in upcoming elections - coincided with the birth anniversary of late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi's husband.

The government was hoping to introduce the Food Security Bill in Parliament on Tuesday, but was prevented from doing so amid an opposition uproar over ''missing files'' in the coal block allocation scam.

Though the bill is yet to be passed, the central government had promulgated an ordinance on 6 June to launch the scheme and this will have to be ratified by Parliament soon.

"We decided to formulate food security bill so that the poor do not remain hungry, their children do not sleep hungry and they do not suffer malnutrition," Sonia Gandhi said at Talkatora Stadium in the presence of Delhi chief minister Sheila Diskhit and union food minister K V Thomas.

"The guarantee of food provided by the food security scheme on such a large scale is unparalleled in the world," she declared, adding that states had benefited from welfare schemes of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

"We know the work is not over and there is need of a lot of struggle. It is our duty to keep in mind interests of the poor," she said.

She admitted that the public distribution system – the main implementing agency for the scheme – had many shortcomings, but said the food security bill had given importance to reforms in it PDS so that the "real beneficiaries get benefits and there is no scope for corruption".

The food security bill is yet to be passed by Parliament. The Delhi government unveiled the food security programme on the basis of an ordinance promulgated in June.

Gandhi said that the food security bill will benefit 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the urban population. She also said it would empower women.

The Congress chief handed over food security ration cards to beneficiaries along with a 5 kg rice packet each.

Under the programme, a total of 7.3 million people will get food grain at highly subsidised rates in the national capital.

Sonia Gandhi praised Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit for her efforts in implementing the programme.

She also lauded Dikshit for transforming the infrastructure in the capital, saying the city was no longer the same as it was 15 years ago.

Food Minister K V Thomas accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of delaying the passage of food security bill in Parliament.