Jaya’s objections ignored, says party
Strongly opposing the Food Security Bill, AIADMK leader V Maitreyan on Monday charged the Centre with not heeding objections raised by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to the various provisions of the legislation.
Participating in the debate on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Maitreyan even charged DMK MPs and Congress Ministers from Tamil Nadu with going against interests of the people of the State by supporting the Bill. DMK and Congress members vociferously protested and denied the charge.
Tamil Nadu Government’s food security scheme is much better with people getting rice and wheat at a cheaper rate and the new Bill will reduce the subsidised food allocation to the State, he pointed out adding while DMK had opposed the legislation in the State it went back on its words and supported it in the lok Sabha. He also questioned absence of Union Ministers P Chidambaram, Jayanthi Natarajan and GK Wasan from the House saying that by supporting the Bill in the Cabinet they went against the interest of the State.
He also took the name of Minister of State for DoPT V Narayanasamy, who strongly protested and countered by saying that though the Centre is at present giving huge subsidy of Rs 24 per kg, the State takes the entire credit for cheap food grains by just contributing minimum funds. DMK leader Kanimozhi also retaliated and said that in the larger interest of fighting hunger and malnutrition among women and children of the country her party supported the legislation.
She said DMK had brought universal PDS in Tamil Nadu and in 1996 opposed the Centre’s move to bring targeted PDS scheme while AIADMK had tried to introduce it in 2003 but failed due to immense resistance from the people. She also asked the Centre to assure that there would be no reduction in the food grains’ allocation to Tamil Nadu.
lukewarm yes to ‘half-hearted’ provisions
New Delhi: BSP supremo Mayawati provided in-principle support to the ‘half hearted’ measure of Food Security Bill but demanded that the poor people belonging to Scheduled Castes must get food grains at half the price of the present provision of Rs 3 and Rs 2 granted under the Bill.
Participating in the debate in Rajya Sabha, she flayed the UPA Government for not consulting Chief Ministers or discussing it in the all party meeting before bringing the legislation in Parliament. Raising questions about why the Bill was brought just before the lok Sabha polls, she also demanded increasing the food grains under the Bill from the present 5 kg per head per month, creating storage facilities at war footing and providing adequate funds to States for proper implementation of the legislation.
She also utilised the opportunity to criticise the Government for not having the willpower to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill to negate the Supreme Court judgement that denied the SC employees reservation in promotions. The Bill has been approved by the Rajya Sabha, but is still pending in the lok Sabha due to opposition from various parties.
Make it universal: yechury
New Delhi: CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury demanded that instead of providing food security to just 67 per cent of population, it should be made universal as malnutrition is widespread in the country. He said that the left Parties will press for amendments in the Food Security Bill as it has many lacunae.
Participating in the debate on the Bill, Yechury said that initially the Government had promised to bring the legislation within 100 days but 15 such 100 days have passed and now it has been brought just before lok Sabha polls. He demanded that the quantity of food grain per person per month should be raised from 5 kg to at least 7 kg and rice should be made available at Rs 2 per kg. The offtake of food grains should not be reduced for any State, which is already providing subsidised food grain to large number of people.
He said that there was no paucity of funds in the country as people are buying gold and dollars so except the tax-paying population everyone else must be covered under the legislation.
Trinamool scoffs at latest ‘gimmick’ from Under Pressure Alliance!
New Delhi: Describing UPA as ‘Under Pressure Alliance’, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’ Brien criticised the Government for lacking ideas and resorting to gimmicks like Food Security Bill. The Trinamool MP said though his party supported the pro-poor legislation in principle, it is critical of the Centre mocking the federal system by unilaterally taking the decision. He demanded that the entire financial burden for the legislation should be borne by the Centre.
He said initially the States’ contribution to any scheme like Sarva Sikhsa Abhiyan was just 15 percent with Centre contributing 85 per cent but now it has gone upto 35 per cent for states and Centre’s contribution reduced to 65 per cent. For NRHM, States’ contribution has gone from 15 per cent to 25 per cent, he pointed out and demanded that it should not be allowed to happen in Food Security scheme. He also criticised the central Government for not clearing Rs 650 crore Central Sales Tax fund to West Bengal.
O’ Brien demanded that items like pulse and oil should also be included under the food security scheme to tackle malnutrition.
Samajwadis raise farmers’ cause
New Delhi: Terming the Food Security Bill as old wine in new bottle, Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal apprehended that the legislation will be detrimental to farmers’ interest. He also said that though States are the implementing machinery, Chief Ministers were not consulted by the Centre before bringing the legislation.
Agarwal said subsidised food grains to be distributed under the Bill could enter the market due to leakage and this would bring down the price of food grains in the open market. He demanded a clear cut assurance from the government that it would take measures to protect the agriculturists by ensuring that retail market price of food grains would not go down.
Though the implementation of the bill would require Rs 1,45,000 crore, the Budget had allocated just Rs 10,000 crore for it, he pointed out and wondered why the Government did not bring supplementary budget for the remaining amount. This showed the Government’s doublespeak and its bid to garner votes in elections. The Food Corporation of India, which will be playing an important role in implementing the scheme, is plagued with corruption and does not have adequate storage capacity, he pointed out. He said instead of sitting in office to make the scheme, the Food Minister should have checked beforehand whether the agencies are capable of implementing it. Also, only food grains would not suffice as now due to high inflation poor people will have to pay more for onion, pulses and edible oil.