Food bill remains stuck

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit kept her date for launching the Food Security scheme in her state, but the game changing legislation remained stuck in Parliament.

The ruling party's expectation that Parliament would get to business and move ahead with the bill could not be fulfilled. This time, it was the issue of the missing coal gate files that led to the disruption of the house, and the food bill could not be taken up.

Now the ruling party is mulling two options. One is to pass the bill in the din of the house, and the other is to let the ordinance lapse

and then issue a second ordinance. "We can pass the bill in the din of the house. Then the president's assent will be obtained and it shall become a law," said a Union minister. He emphasized that the ruling party wanted order in the house so that all the parties could have their say while such a ''historic'' legislation is being enacted. ''But then often the most desirable thing is not the feasible one," he added. The bill remained stalled even after parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath was willing to accept some of the opposition-suggested amendments. " If it is an amendment which is workable, the government will move that amendment. It will come in as an official amendment," he told reporters. For Congress President Sonia Gandhi there was a personal element to the passage of the bill, as it happened to be the birth anniversary of her late husband Rajiv Gandhi. She was reportedly prepared to make an intervention in the Lok Sabha during the debate, but had to be content with delivering a speech at the launch of the scheme in Delhi. She said: "Our country still has people who don't get food to eat, their children suffer from malnutrition. This scheme will legally ensure food for the poor in India," Scoring a political point she added the Congress' Aam Aadmi touch. ''Through PDS and self-help groups I want my sisters to become self- sufficient. I want the women of the country to contribute to its growth," she added.