Food Security bill likely to be introduced in parliament by December: K V Thomas

29 Jul 2011 Evaluate

The central government may introduce its ambitious national food security bill in parliament by December 2011. The recommended food security ensures of providing foodgrains at subsidized rate to the poor. The Empowered Group of Minister (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has approved the draft bill and it is now with Law Ministry.

Minister of State for Consumer Affairs and Food KV Thomas on July 28 said, 'Once that is done, it has to go to the Cabinet. We will also discuss with the chief ministers, because they are the implementing agency... then it has to go to Parliament. By adding further he said 'What I propose is to introduce the bill by this December so that it can be implemented from next year.' 

The proposed food security bill is UPA government’s ambitious project which aims to provide food support to people facing hunger a duty of state, earlier the draft projects was approved by the National Advisory Council headed by the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The Planning Commission has also undertaken a comprehensive study to suggest measures for creation of modern foodgrain storage infrastructure facility in the country. The government is also planning to create a special purpose vehicle to undertake studies on foodgrain storage handling and transportation, KV Thomas said.

'The Special Purpose Vehicle is for two purposes - one for the construction of godown and warehouses with modern temperature control and the other is for the movement of vehicles from the producing states to the consuming states,' Thomas added.

With the modernization of food storage centers, central government is also looking to increase the India’s annual production of food grains from current 55 million tonne to 60 million tonne. K V Thomas said that the ministry was also looking at increasing the food subsidy from the present Rs 60,000 crore to Rs 1 lakh crore.

© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×