New Delhi, May 2 (ANI): Food and Public Distribution System Minister Professor K V Thomas moved the National Food Security Bill 2011 in the Lok Sabha today amidst noisy scenes.
As soon as the Lower House reassembled at 3 p.m., members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal demanded the setting up of a Supreme Court monitored Special Investigation Team to probe the 1984 riots in Delhi.
They also raised slogans for chargesheeting the Congress leader Sajjan Kumar for his role in the riots.
Following uproarious scenes, the presiding officer Francisco Sardinha adjourned the House for the day.
Earlier, the House witnessed repeated adjournments on the same issue.
The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December,2011. After being examined by the Standing Committee, it went back to the Cabinet with fresh amendments and was tabled again in the lower house on March 22, the last day of the first part of the Budget session.
The amendments in the Bill are mainly aimed at providing a simpler framework and more flexibility to the states besides lowering their financial burden.
Implementation of the National Food Security Bill, aimed at providing legal entitlement to food to around 67 per cent of the population, is likely to cost the exchequer around Rs 1.23 lakh crore.
The National Food Security Bill, 2011, considered to be the world's largest experiment in ensuring food security to poor, has been a key project of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. It hopes to meet the food needs of 75 percent of rural households and 50 percent of urban households.
The bill classifies all entitled households as "general" and "priority".
At least 46 percent of rural households and 28 percent of urban households would be designated as "priority".
Every person belonging to a "priority household" will be provided with seven kilograms of grain per month, comprising rice, wheat and coarse grain. Rice will be provided at Rs.3, wheat at Rs.2 and coarse grain at Rs. 1 per kg.
Others belonging to the "general category" would be entitled to not less than three kilogram of grain per month at a rate not exceeding 50 percent of the minimum support price.
Once passed, the food subsidy bill was expected to rise to Rs.95,000 crore. Initial estimates pegged the increase in subsidy at nearly Rs.28,000 crore, but this has been revised to between Rs.21,000 crore to Rs. 23,000 crore.
The bill's financial memorandum estimates the total annual expenditure on food subsidy under the targeted public distribution system at about Rs.79,800 crore.
Experts maintain that the annual increase would be to the tune of Rs.27,500 crore. The total financial liability to implement the law is expected to be Rs 3.5 lakh crore, with funds being required to raise agriculture production, create storage space and publicity.
A sum of roughly Rs 1,11,000 crore would be required to boost farm output with grain requirement increasing, on account of this intervention, from 55 million tonnes to 61 million tonnes annually. Thomas stressed that "this Rs 1,10,600 crore is not an additional burden. We need to invest in agriculture to boost production anyway".
The proposed law entitles every pregnant woman and lactating mother to meal free of cost during pregnancy and six months after childbirth. Cash benefits of Rs.1,000 per month to meet increased food requirements of pregnant women would be provided for the first six months of pregnancy. At Rs 1,000 per month and covering 2.25 crore women, an expenditure of nearly Rs. 13,500 crore has been estimated. This will be borne by the central government and the states. (ANI with inputs)
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