By IANS,
New Delhi: A day ahead of the empowered group of ministers meeting to re-look the national food security bill, the Congress Sunday said that the proposed legislation should provide maximum benefits to the needy sections of society.
“The needy sections of society should get maximum benefits,” Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told IANS.
He said that present entitlement of below poverty line (BPL) families should be protected under the proposed legislation.
Citing media reports, Ahmed said the draft bill cleared by the ministers’ group last month had proposed 25 kg of wheat or rice per month at Rs.3 a kg to BPL families but they got 35 kg of foodgrain every month through the public distribution system.
Some NGOs and activists had described the draft food security bill as “minimalist” and had sought an expansion in its scope.
Congress sources said that party leadership also wanted the bill – a flagship programme of the United Progressive Alliance government in its second term – to be more comprehensive.
They said party president Sonia Gandhi, who was made chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC) March 28, was keen on the bill addressing concerns regarding nutritional security of women, children and other vulnerable sections.