A parliamentary standing committee has recently asked the government to introduce the national food security Bill in the winter session of the Lok Sabha. A promise to implement a Bill of this kind was first mooted in President Pratibha Patil's inaugural speech last year when she mentioned the government's intention to provide each family below the poverty line (BPL) with 25 kg of foodgrains a month at Rs 3 per kg. The public debate about the "right to food" and the appropriate contents of the Act has continued ever since, and has indeed intensified because food prices keep marching up. In particular, social activists have argued that the right cannot be restricted simply to the BPL families and that the quantity of grain mentioned in the president's speech is quite inadequate..........................Click for more

Source Web Page: Times of India