President Pranab Mukherjee signs Food Security Ordinance to law
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New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday signed the National Food Security Bill, but not before keeping the government on tenterhooks by sitting over it for a day.
The ordinance, which was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, was sent to him on Thursday, but the President did not sign it promptly, giving the government some cause for concern.
The Opposition, meanwhile, trained its guns on the government for scuttling the discussion in Parliament over the legislation.
Sources in Rashtrapati Bhavan said that the President delayed it by a day to satisfy himself on the issue of "urgency" in promulgating an ordinance for the legislation when the monsoon session of Parliament is due in a few weeks’ time.
Opposition parties, including the BJP and the Left, have raised objections to the manner in which the Bill was being pushed through the ordinance route, as the monsoon session of Parliament is due to commence soon.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj wondered through her Twitter handle if the hurry in promulgating an ordinance was an indication for winter elections. However, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tiwari maintained that the ordinance should not be seen in the context of early elections.
The Bill was drafted by the National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The Bill was also part of the poll promise of the Congress in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
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