Food Security Bill- A big achievement

Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s pet Food Security Bill has finally got the approval of the Union Cabinet, and now it is to be introduced in Parliament. This pet project of Mrs. Gandhi is likely to do away with the curse of hunger prevailing in the country among a little more than half of the population.
Despite the drum beating of economic reforms ,its benefit has reached only to the few and created a wide gulf between the poor and the rich. Although UPA government’s failure on economic front is apparently visible in the country, food security bill will prove to be a face saver for it.
Still, the population below the poverty line has to go without meal for days and the new born babies become deficient in nourishment only due to the fact that their mothers had to go without meal for days during their pregnancies. If the Food Security Bill is passed by the Parliament, the 75 per cent of poor rural population and the 50 per cent of poor urban population will get Rs. 1, 2, and 3 rice per kg, wheat and coarse grain respectively.
But as the food is as much necessary for the poor as the rich, the people above poverty line will also get rice, wheat and coarse grain at the price government purchases. So, the historic Food Security Bill is going to be the land mark single achievement of the UPA-II government.
By enacting the food security bill, UPA has fulfilled the promise it had made to the people in the manifesto of Congress Party in the last Lok Sabha elections. This will be much more beneficial for the Congress party politically than NREGA (now MNREGA).
The food security for the poorest of the poor is completely in line with Congress’s slogan of its being with Aam Admi. Food Security is also the brain child of Sonia Gabdhi, and with this the belief of the people that she is favourably bent towards the poor would strengthen. The security of food for the poor is the first stepping stone towards their empowerment. No privilege can match the privilege of taking meal without any anxiety. But one thing is most essential in ensuring that the distribution of food is done with honesty , sincerity and promptness among the poor.