Food Security scheme will help the poor; implement it fast; urges Sonia Gandhi to party CMs

NEW DELHI: UPA Chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a meeting with the Congress Chief Ministers and state party chiefs on Saturday to discuss about the fast implementation of the Food Security scheme. She asked Congress leaders to roll out the welfare scheme in letter and spirit which the party sees as a game changer in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Sonia Gandhi has been putting her consistent efforts to make the food security programme a reality. She told the Congress CMs that food scheme must be implemented as soon as possible as it helps the poor, women and children. Further it was a promise in the election manifesto of the Congress party during 2009 general polls.

The Congress President held discussions with Congress chief ministers on how to implement the food scheme seeking to provide cheap food-grains to 82 crore people, for which an ordinance was promulgated last week.  The meeting was held at a time when the party is preparing for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.  Congress is hopeful that people would give it another mandate as the Centre has implemented various land mark welfare schemes like MNREGA, direct benefits transfer and Food Security.

Delhi, where assembly polls are due by year-end, will be the first state to launch the scheme on August 20, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Besides Congress CMs, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party vice president Rahul Gandhi, food minister K V Thomas, AICC general secretaries and Core Group members were present in the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to ensure that the scheme is implemented in the best possible manner with Congress-ruled states becoming role models in implementation of the food security measure.

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme and the Food Security Act are being considered as major legislations by the Congress led UPA-II government at the centre as was the farmers' loan waiver scheme and MNREGA announced in UPA-I.  The loan waiver and MNREGA schemes were credited among other things for return of UPA to power in 2009.