NEW DELHI: The UPA government introduced a food security law in 2013 haphazardly eying next year's general elections, but it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who took the initiative to provide free foodgrains to 80 crore people in a systematic way, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Wednesday.
The Union food minister made the remark in the Lok Sabha when Congress member Praniti Shinde said the National Food Security Act, 2013, which aimed to provide subsidised foodgrains to the poor, was the brainchild of her party's leader Sonia Gandhi.
"The Congress brought the food security act in 2013 only because of the election. It was introduced in a haphazard manner. Even rules under the act were not framed," Joshi said.
He said when the NDA government assumed charge after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the initiative to ensure free foodgrains to the poor as he understands their pain.
"Now Prime Minister Modi is providing free foodgrains to 80 crore people in the country," the Union minister said.
He also said that people's life was made easy by the Modi government with the introduction of the 'One Nation, One Ration Card' scheme under which a beneficiary can avail free foodgrains anywhere in the country, irrespective of the state he or she belongs to.
In 2013, the Congress-led UPA was in power and Sonia Gandhi was the chairperson of the alliance.