Rahul Gandhi to meet Congress state chiefs on Food Security Bill

New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will meet all Congress state unit presidents on Saturday in New Delhi to discuss the Food Security Bill. Fourteen Congress-led states are expected to launch the Food Security scheme brought in by Congress-led UPA government at the centre from August 20, which is former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's birth anniversary.

Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi also had held consultations with chief ministers of all Congress-ruled states on July 13 in which she urged them to expeditiously implement the food security scheme in letter and spirit.

Earlier this month, the government brought in an ordinance that has to be now ratified within six weeks of its tabling in Parliament. The Food Security scheme aims to give cheap food to nearly 70 per cent of the population. The ambitious scheme, championed by Sonia Gandhi, will raise the annual food subsidy spending by 45 per cent. Under the scheme, rice will be available at Rs. 3 a kilogram, and wheat at Rs. 2 a kilogram. The monthly supply ranges from three to seven kilograms per person, depending on their level of income. 

The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme and the Food Security Act are some of the major policies by the present Congress led UPA Governments like the farmers' loan waiver scheme and MNREGA announced during its previous term.