After a marathon meeting of more than eight hours, the National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi has given final touches to its recommendations on the draft Food Security Bill. A final call will be taken on August 30.
NAC is an advisory body and has no binding power on policy decisions made by the government. However, Sonia Gandhi may provide it with enough weight to shape policy. The group has asked for assured supply of food grain to all in 200 districts of the country in first phase. This would involve identification of the vulnerable sections of the population in at least one-fourth of blocks in the country. ?This roughly works out to 2,000 blocks, or 200 districts in total, where universal public distribution system has been recommended,? said a source. Source also confirmed that the weaker section would be identified in three broad categories.
?Those who have been victims of a natural disaster, districts which are vulnerable in terms of malnutrition and poverty and backwardness, and specifically vulnerable categories like malnourished women and children.?
The NAC had discussed universalisation of PDS but the agriculture ministry had appeared uncomfortable at the prospect of the bourgeoning cost of the programme and the amount of procurement needed. ?The implementation, therefore, will be on the pattern of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA),? said a source.