M A I N   N E W S

Draft Food SECURITY Bill
States’ poor response puts Centre in a fix
Vibha Sharma/TNS

New Delhi, October 8
Concerned over lackadaisical response of important grain-growing states to the crucial draft Food Security Bill, Food Minister KV Thomas is now shooting off letters to Chief Ministers, seeking their suggestions.

The September 30 deadline for sending views has been missed by most states. The UPA government at the Centre has received just six or seven replies, putting into quandary its grand plan to get the Food Bill moving in the right direction before the Assembly elections in seven states next year.

Officials say Thomas is pushing for a meeting of state food chiefs so that the draft Bill can somehow be placed in Parliament during the coming winter session and the Act can come into force from the next financial year.

According to sources, the poor response to the draft Bill, put up by the Food Ministry on its website, by various states is not surprising. A majority of provisions in the Bill would have to be implemented by states which is why their consent is important. The states, especially those ruled by the Opposition, know quite well that while they would be doing the hard work when it comes to implementing the Act, the credit for the landmark Bill would be lapped up by the Congress and its allies. Besides managing the logistic aspects, states would be liable to pay the food security allowance to targeted beneficiaries in case adequate food grain is not available for distribution.

So far, Bihar and West Bengal are the only two big states, apart from Chattisgarh, Mizoram and Nagaland, which have bothered to file their responses. The response of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been more of a criticism, demanding an independent commission for ascertaining the number of beneficiaries. While Andhra Pradesh has sought more time to send its views, there has been no response from poll-bound states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, HP and Gujarat.