Faltering economy, free fall of the rupee and a significant drop in the economic growth rate have given the BJP fresh ammunition to question the government on the feasibility of implementation of the national food security scheme.
The party intends to pin down the Manmohan Singh government on the viability of the scheme, given the grim economic situation, when the food security Bill comes up in the Rajya Sabha on September 2. It was approved by the Lok Sabha on Monday after the Congress floor managers succeeded in getting the Opposition amendments negated.In the Rajya Sabha also, BJP members have moved a number of amendments to the Bill in a bid to test the strength of the UPA in a House where it is in a hopeless minority. The BJP essentially seeks improvements in the Bill, incorporating the features of a similar scheme in Chhattisgarh ruled by its Chief Minister Raman Singh.
“We have tabled several amendments as we did in the Lok Sabha. The key issue now is how the government would raise the resources to sustain the scheme. If there is no money, it would be a mere paper scheme,” Deputy Leader of the Opposition Ravi Shankar Prasad told The Hindu .
Meanwhile, as the rupee took another battering on Wednesday, the party again targeted the Prime Minister, stating bankruptcy of ideas and indecisiveness on the part of the government were responsible for the slide and demanded that the economist Prime Minister step down if he could not stop it.
“If he cannot control the slide of the rupee or improve the state of the economy, then he has no right to continue in office,” BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
“Had the government taken timely action on the import-export front and had it made massive investment in infrastructure, the economy’s health would have been better,” said another spokesperson, Prakash Javadekar.
