This refers to the report, “lS clears Food Bill, doubts stay” (August 27). The unseemly haste with which the Congress-led UPA Government has pushed through the food security Bill, raises more questions about this much-touted scheme than draws admiration.
The Bill ensures more ‘vote security' than ‘food security'. The Congress claims it is for the benefit of the poor. If the UPA had managed the economy better and governed well, maybe there would not have been the need for another populist food scheme, especially as there are similar schemes for the poor and marginalised segments. The country's suffering economy will now have to bear the additional burden of this money guzzling scheme.
Besides, there is no certainty that this scheme will be effective and corruption free. The rural employment guarantee and farm-loan waiver schemes were not the success they were meant to be. The money, instead of going to the beneficiaries, lined the pockets of corrupt officials and middlemen, while the farmers continued to languish.