Food Security Bill likely to be taken up in Lok Sabha today

UPA's flagship scheme, the Food Security Bill is likely to be taken up in Lok Sabha on Monday. The government has not been able to take up the Bill in the House till now due to repeated din and disruptions because of which several days of the Monsoon session have been lost.

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However, the Bill might be headed for another roadblock after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said that the AIADMK will vote against it. She said the Bill in its present form does not help Tamil Nadu and most of her demands had not been accepted by the Central government.
She blamed the Congress-led UPA government for not incorporating the amendments suggested by her in the Food Security Bill. "Under these circumstances, the Food Security Bill with its present amendments, which is due to come up for discussion in Lok Sabha on August 28, 2013, is not acceptable. AIADMK will vote against the Bill," she said in a statement.
Jayalalithaa said under the bill, the Centre will only fund a portion of the rice allotted to the state at subsidised rates while she wanted Tamil Nadu's entire quota of rice to be subsidised at Rs 3 per kilogram. "This is not acceptable. It will be fair if the entire 36.78 lakh tonnes of (the state's annual quota of rice) was allotted at Rs 3 per kg. If the Centre provided those 14.90 lakh tonnes of rice at its procurement price of Rs 19.11, it will cast a burden on the state to an additional Rs 1000 crore expenditure," she said.
Jayalalithaa said that she had written to Singh mentioning various other demands, including ensuring 100 per cent coverage of urban beneficiaries, seeking provisions that make it incumbent on Centre to take all measures including import of food grains when warranted and seeking that Clause 12 (2)(h), allowing Centre to introduce cash transfer and food coupon schemes, with a "clear indication that no such scheme may be introduced without the concurrence of the State Government."
None of these demands had been acceded to, she said. The AIADMK supremo said her party, which has nine members in Lok Sabha, would support the bill only if the amendments sought by her were incorporated as the present ones will not benefit Tamil Nadu and asked her party's rival, DMK, to spell out its stand vis-a-vis, Food Security Bill.
"DMK chief Mr M Karunanidhi should make it clear if his party will support or oppose this bill which is still against the people of Tamil Nadu. If he supports the bill which usurps the rights of Tamil Nadu, it would be a betrayal of the people," she added.