The Food Security Bill may not be listed amongst the bills meant for introduction during the forthcoming Budget Session of Parliament. But Union minister for food K.V. Thomas on Saturday said that that the government is ready to introduce the bill and that 60 to 70 per cent of the population would benefit from it.
According to him, a draft bill is “almost at a final conclusive stage”. He said this to reporters on the sidelines of a national conference on “policy for foodgrains storage, handling and trnasportation” that was held in the city.
The minister also announced that the government will create a special purpose vehicle to attract private investment for setting up bulk foodgrains storage facilities.
The proposed special purpose vehicle will woo private investment in creation of bulk-storage facilities besides playing the role of a think tank to undertake studies on bulk storage handling and transportation requirement for foodgrains, he said. Mr Thomas further said: “With the increased requirement of foodgrain handling under the PDS and the proposed National Food Security Act, there is a need to substantially enhance and improve the country’s storage infrastructure through the involvement of the private sector.”
The minister also said that his ministry has proposed the creation of two million tonnes of additional storage through modern silos.
This, he said, will be part of about 15 million tonnes of new storage capacity being created under the Public Entrepreneurs Guarantee scheme of the FCI.