The reconstituted National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will meet for the first time here on Thursday, June 10. The meeting of the 14-member NAC will be followed by an interaction with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the evening at around 4.30 pm for which they have been invited.
The swiftness with which the first meeting of the NAC has been called — its members were named just last week — perhaps indicate the government’s seriousness on ensuring that the powerful advisory body gets down to business soon now that its members have been nominated. While the government had announced the name of Ms Gandhi as the NAC head in late March, it took another two months for the members to be announced.
While no agenda had been made available to the NAC members until Tuesday evening, there were indications that the first meeting will be introductory in nature.
A NAC member said that the first meeting is likely to be informal and will possibly see a discussion on the issues that need the NAC’s attention.
In its first avatar during the tenure of UPA-1, the NAC had played an important role in giving laws like the Right to Information Act and NREGA (now MGNREGA) a push. The reconstituted NAC is expected to carry forward UPA-1’s agenda of social inclusiveness.
Among those who had given this agenda the necessary direction as part of the first NAC and who are back in the reconstituted panel are social rights activist Aruna Roy, development economist Jean Dreze and former bureaucrat N.C. Saxena.
The controversial National Food Security Act which is on the anvil is undoubtedly going to receive the NAC’s immediate attention given the government’s keenness to introduce it in the monsoon session of Parliament.
Mr Saxena says that the advisory body will be requested to “reconsider” the controversial National Food Security Act which is on the anvil. The proposed legislation has the strong backing of Ms Gandhi. The former bureaucrat also says that the how “food security” should be defined needs a relook by the NAC.
Yet another NAC member, Rajya Sabha member Ram Dayal Munda who belongs to the tribal state of Jharkhand says that the impact of Naxalism needs to be looked at. Noting that lack of development and unemployment make guns attractive to the youth, Dr Munda says these issues need attention.