The Congress members on Tuesday said that a motion to thank the Centre should be brought in the Assembly for the Food Security Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Describing the decision as historic, Santosh Singh Saluja (Cong) said India is the only country which has passed such a legislation to provide food security to poor people. He said 75 per cent of rural population and 50 per cent of urban population will be covered under the scheme.
Saluja said poor families will be provided rice, wheat, maize and jowar under the scheme.
Stating that the passage of Food Security Bill in the Lok Sabha has showed the UPA’s commitment for the poor, Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan said this is another revolutionary step by the Centre.
He referred to the RTI Bill, MGNREGS and Right to Education Bill as the other measures taken by the UPA for the benefit of the common people. Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh said a motion of thanks should be passed in the House.
BJD member Ranendra Pratap Swain, however, alleged that the Food Security Bill has been passed keeping an eye on election. He demanded that the Centre should have universalised the public distribution system (PDS) to cover more people.