Union Agriculture Minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday reiterated that his party was all for passing the National Food Security Bill in Parliament after a full-fledged discussion.
Expressing his reservations about a proposal — being discussed in the certain quarters of the ruling Congress circles - of taking an ordinance route to implement the Food Security legislation, Pawar said, “I am in favour of approving the Food Security Bill through discussion in Parliament which is the highest forum”.
Queried as to what would be his stand in the event of the ruling Congress deciding to promulgate an ordinance on food security instead of passing the Bill in Parliament Pawar said, “Such decisions are taken collectively”.
Pawar, who has softened his earlier position that hefty concessions on foodgrains could endanger food security and harm the interests of farmers, said the Government wanted the crucial legislation to be “cleared, approved and implemented.”
Seeking to allay misconceptions in certain quarters that his party had reservations about the Food Security legislation itself, Pawar said, “let me make it clear that I am not opposed to the Bill. The issue is as to which route to take — whether to promulgate an ordinance or pass a Bill in the Parliament. …The Opposition is also not against the Food Bill. They want something more and discussions are on”.
Pawar’s reiteration on the Food Security legislation issue comes in the midst of speculation that the Government is coming around to accept the Opposition’s insistence that the Bill be passed during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
To another query, Pawar said he concurred with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s view that politics and sports should not be mixed and said that he never did it his long association with sports bodies.
Pawar, however, declined to comment on the ongoing IPl crisis that has rocked the BCCI, saying, “Right now I am not associated with BCCI…. I may be with some sports body in the future”.