A resolve for masses Or a political 'gimmick' .....
Food Security Ordinance will help the majority of Indians to have access to food at cheaper prices. With 67 percent of population coverage ( 75 rural , 50 urban ) , the bill , if passed by the parliament , will be first of its kind considering its large scale in any nation's history .
Rice , Wheat and Other coarse grains like millet at a price of Rs 3 , 2 , and 1 per capita per month will be a big relief for the poor classes grappling with double digit inflation persisting for a long time . The bill also includes monetary benefits for pregnant women and mid day meal scheme provisions.
The bill in its present form also has many serious drawbacks , reduction from 35 kg food grains to 25 kg per household , no Govt onus in case of crop failure , no clear eligibility criteria for the beneficiaries and no procedural guidelines for the state for effective implementation of the scheme.
As the state's mechanism should be aligned , as it is not , to offer the proposed services to the poor section and that needs time for adaptation , the sudden attempt to bring this scheme through the ordinance route could be seen as a political gimmick to get leverage over this for the electoral gains in 2014 Lok Sabha elections as the real implementation will take good amount of time as per our past records of implementation.
