New Delhi: Keen to pass Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s pet welfare legislation, the Food Security Bill, but concerned over the large number of amendments (over 260) moved by the opposition parties, the government yesterday indicated it would accommodate some of them.
The government wants to pass the bill in the Lok Sabha Aug 20, the 69th birth anniversary of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
To mark the occasion, Sonia Gandhi will launch the scheme in Delhi while Congress-ruled Haryana and Assam are also expected to start the right to food plan today.
The Food Security Bill, expected to be a game-changer for the ruling Congress ahead of five assembly polls this year-end and the 2014 general elections, aims to provide subsidised foodgrain at prices much below the market rate to around 67 percent of India’s 1.2 billion people; the bill would thus benefit about 800 million people.
IANS
