In a poll on The Hindu website on whether the Food Bill is a) anti-farmer b) politically-motivated c) a boon to the poor, over 75% of our readers have said the Bill is politically-motivated. Only 13% have said it is a boon to the poor.
The Hindu also started a discussion in >Facebook on The Hindu's Executive Editor M.K. Venu's article on Food Bill ( >When friends and foes are all the same )
We are presenting here some of the serious views of the FB readers:
Aditya Nath has charged that the UPA government is "hell bent on making people lame and dependent" citing the oft-quoted proverb 'Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish and he can feed himself for his lifetime'.
He warns of a civil war in 50 years when the government of the time won't be able to support the Bill and revokes it because of explosion in population.
Vivek Sinwer asks why people should have any problem with the Bill even if it helps only a few.
To Jeevan Manohar the only issue is implementation. If 60-70% benefit from the scheme, UPA can take credit, he feels and hopes for the best.
Gobinda Bose is worried that "bad distribution system with maximum leakage" might foil the "food for all" scheme.
Expressing scepticism Prasad Subramaniam writes, "It is not Right to Food but Right to Fool exercise." How will the supply chain be managed so that the food reaches to the right beneficiary, he asks.
Sandeep Baguru says the Bill is a step in the right direction and it should be viewed apolitically.
If because of the Bill UPA wins the next elections, corruption will become a law, says Alok Kumar, adding that the people of this country will themselves be responsible for their misery after 2014.
Naren Pillai has given the information that the Food Corporation of India is recruiting management trainee for this purpose. He hopes the recruits are not overruled by internal influences nor by will or wish.
Subsidy cannot be sustained, Mr. Vijay Sharma states, adding that the freebee model has not worked anywhere for the last 65 years. "Who is going to pay to farmer who grow this food? Is government going to give vegetables as well? Use this money to set up industry to bring employment and sustain development forever."
Existence is the only thing that matters to politicians “who are not fools” to work on anything else, says Vikram Jeet Kaur.
Niloy Sarkar writes: The problem in our country is not so much as hunger and starvation but due to malnutrition, and even if we forget that our PDS system is very leaky, giving people only grains won’t help... we should help people help themselves... through skill development, employment, and entrepreneurship.
Who is not doing politics, asks Wahid Iqbal and supports the Bill says it is a boon to the poor whatever be the reason behind it.
Taking a dig at The Hindu , Abhishek Pandey says that he is a regular reader of The Hindu and feels that this newspaper is a showcase of the government.
