After making the government wait more then 24 hours, President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday gave his assent to the UPA’s ambitious National Food Security Ordinance, which the Congress claims is a “game-changer”. The BJP, however, questioned the government’s intent in bringing an ordinance now when the next session of Parliament is expected to begin in the third week of this month. Even the UPA government’s key outside supporter, the Samajwadi Party, opposed the Centre’s move by saying it was “anti-farmer”, while the Left parties accused the government of contempt of Parliament.
President Pranab Mukherjee signed the ordinance that will give the three-fourths of the nation’s population the right to get five kg of food grains every month at highly subsidised rates of `1-3 per kg.
The President’s assent came two days after the Cabinet approved the landmark programme pushed by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, brushing aside political opposition from allies and others.
The food security programme will be the biggest in the world with government spending estimated at `125,000 crore annually on the supply of about 62 million tonnes of rice, wheat and coarse cereals to 67 per cent of the country’s population.
The ordinance comes a few weeks before the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which usually begins towards the end of July or in early August.
Political parties, including the SP, have slammed the government’s rush to promulgate the ordinance, saying such a measure should have been properly debated in Parliament before being enacted.
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, while talking to reporters in Lucknow, said, “The intentions of the Congress are suspect. The Congress is bringing the ordinance like it had brought the rural employment scheme MNREGA before the previous polls. We have not yet studied the ordinance and we will see if the interests of the farmers have been protected in it or not.” Mr Yadav, who said the ordinance was mere propaganda, added, “Over five lakh people died, mostly in Maharashtra, due to starvation... Why did the government not distribute food grains to them then? The condition of the Congress is not good in the entire country.”
However, rejecting allegations that the measure was hurried up with an eye on elections, the Congress said it would be a “game-changer” that would provide 82 crore people the right to cheap food grains. Dismissing talk of early elections, AICC general secretary Ajay Maken and food minister K.V. Thomas accused the Opposition of blocking the passage of the key bill in the last session of Parliament. “This may be a life-saver, life-changer for many people... So delay even by a single minute or day, God knows how many lives it could cost,” Mr Maken said.
Maintaining that it would take at least six months for people to feel the impact of the measure and its thorough implementation, party leaders said early elections make no sense.
The BJP said the “ordinance route is absolutely unacceptable”. Senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha warned that this would lead to confrontation in the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The government should have convened a special session of Parliament and debated the food security measure, he added. The Left parties, too, criticised the government’s move.