Congress confident of pushing food Ordinance in monsoon session

Accusing the Opposition of “politicising” the food security Bill, Sandeep Dikshit, MP and spokesperson of the All-India Congress Committee, on Saturday expressed confidence over the national food security Ordinance being passed in the coming monsoon session of Parliament.

He told presspersons here that the scheme would empower 81 crore people with a legal right to food and address the issues of malnutrition and deprivation.

Mr. Dikshit said all attempts made by the UPA government so far to pass the Bill were unsuccessful due to disruptions in Parliament by members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“The UPA will leave no stone unturned to push the ambitious Bill through in the coming monsoon session,” he said.

BJP-governed States

Pointing at the BJP-governed States of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh passing Bills similar to the one tabled in Parliament, Mr. Dikshit sought to know the reason behind the BJP opposing the Bill at the Centre. “As the Opposition politicised the pro-people issue, there was no other way for the government but to bring in an Ordinance ,” he said.

When asked, whether the Bill was an attempt to divert the attention of people from the charges of corruption Congress leaders were facing and to reap the benefit in the Lok Sabha elections, he said the Bill could have been passed earlier itself had the BJP cooperated and the necessity of promulgating an Ordinance would not have arisen at all, he said.

Asserting that the Bill could not be linked to the coming elections as food security was a promise made by the Congress in its manifesto during for the 2009 elections, he said the scheme would be a game changer as it empowers a majority of people with a legal right to food.

The Bill would also help the farming community as minimum support price would be fixed for their produce, he said to a query.