Food security bill: Chidambaram hints to secure passage at Parliament special session

The government will try to ensure the passing of the food security legislation in a special session of parliament after making serious consultation with the opposition parties, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters in Delhi on Thursday.

Food Minister K.V. Thomas had previously said that the government will take the ordinance route in order to bring in the National Food Security Bill, a legislation for which Congress president Sonia Gandhi is longing for.

The National Food Security Bill, if passed will subsidised food grain to around 67 percent of India's 1.2 billion people. Approximately 800 million people of the country would get the subsidised grain, at an initial cost of around Rs.1.3 lakh crore to the exchequer.

-With inputs from IANS