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India considers special parliament session on food security bill India considers special parliament session on food security bill
(about 4 hours later)
The Indian government is considering convening a special session of parliament to pass a bill to subsidise food for two-thirds of the population.The Indian government is considering convening a special session of parliament to pass a bill to subsidise food for two-thirds of the population.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the government would approach opposition parties for their support. The bill was tabled in parliament earlier this year but disruptions meant it could not be debated.
The Food Security Bill was discussed by the cabinet which deferred a plan to introduce an ordinance to pass it. The government, eager to make it law, had been criticised for trying to push it through as an ordinance.
The bill proposes to make food a legal right and seeks to provide 5kg of grain every month to 800 million poor people. But it now says renewed efforts will be made to get opposition support for a bill, which could then be voted on.
It was tabled in parliament earlier this year but could not be debated. The Food Security Bill proposes to make food a legal right and seeks to provide 5kg of grain every month to 800 million poor people.
The Food Security Bill was an election promise made by the ruling Congress party and, correspondents say, its implementation will help the party in general elections due next year. The bill was an election promise made by the ruling Congress party and, correspondents say, its implementation will help the party in general elections due next year.
The bill proposes to provide a kilo of rice at three rupees (six cents; four pence), wheat at two rupees and millet at one rupee. Critics have described the bill as a political move aimed at winning votes and which is financially unviable, reports the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Delhi.
Analysts say that it is unclear if opposition parties will provide the support that the government seeks.
Millions live below the poverty line, and many children are malnourished in India.Millions live below the poverty line, and many children are malnourished in India.
The bill proposes to provide a kilo of rice at three rupees (six cents; four pence), wheat at two rupees and millet at one rupee.
The scheme is likely to cost 1.3 trillion rupees ($23.9bn; £15.8bn) every year.The scheme is likely to cost 1.3 trillion rupees ($23.9bn; £15.8bn) every year.
Critics of the scheme say it is a political move and a waste of public money. Many politicians had criticised the move to push through the bill through as an ordinance rather than putting it to a vote in parliament. The government says it had made several efforts to make sure the bill was discussed.
The Congress party-led government and its allies are also deeply divided over how to ratify the plan.
Many politicians have also criticised the move to push through the bill through an ordinance rather than putting it to a vote in parliament.
"A bill that's so important to national life is being passed through an ordinance. It's shameful and can't be a worse advertisement of parliamentary system," Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Nilotpal Basu told the NDTV news channel.
Federal food minister KV Thomas, however, said the government had "waited for two sessions [of the parliament and] nearly six months" for the bill to be discussed.
"But nothing has happened. They [the opposition] obstructed everything. If they were so serious, they should have allowed the discussions. What were the grounds they opposed the bill on? They can have those grounds again," he said.