Food Security Bill to benefit more, add nutritional value

Saturday, July 03, 2010

The National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Sonia Gandhi, it appears, is set to radically rewrite the Food Security Bill. The meeting of the NAC, which discussed the draft Bill prepared by the government, was of the view that the Centre should move be yond the traditional APL-BPL faultline and aim for an inclusive Bill, according to a report in The Economic Times. NAC member A K Sivakumar said, “universalisation sits better with the spirit of the Bill.”

The members have agreed the Bill had to go beyond offering subsidized grains and offer nutritional security. In other words, it might offer varieties like jowar, bajra, ragi which would make the Bill more nutritionally advantageous while also making it self-selecting. Further, more affluent parts of the society, like government employees and others could be excluded from the purview of the Bill.

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