India tables flagship food subsidy plan in Parliament
INDIA: India's ruling Congress party introduced into
Parliament Wednesdsay its flagship subsidised food bill for the poor that it
sees as key to winning a third term in office.
The populist programme -- which the government says will add
Rs.230 billion ($3.8 billion) per year to the country's existing
900-billion-rupee food subsidy bill -- is being introduced with an eye on
elections due by May of next year.
The measure has been pushed strongly by the head of the
ruling Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, who has insisted on honouring a 2009
election pledge despite concerns about the impact on government finances and
food prices.
The bill is expected to be debated next week.
But opposition outrage over the government's muted response
to an attack overnight Monday along India's border with Pakistan in which five
Indian soldiers died and other political rows has raised speculation that the
food bill could die on the order paper.
"Border security is more important than food
security," Sushma Swaraj, leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata
Party, told parliament.
The controversy over the attack, among the deadliest on
Indian soldiers in Kashmir since a 2003 truce was signed, paralysed proceedings
in parliament Wednesday.
The government had hoped to win passage of the bill earlier
but parliament has been regularly disrupted throughout Congress's second term
in office by protests over alleged government graft and other scandals.
Despite two decades of strong economic growth, India still
struggles to feed its population adequately, with a major survey last year
showing that more than 40 percent of children under five were underweight.
Critics of the food programme say that India can ill-afford
such a costly subsidy burden at a time of slowing economic growth and when
credit ratings agencies are eyeing the country's large deficit.
Opposition lawmakers had criticised the government for
issuing an executive order last month to put the measure into effect.
But the government withdrew the ordinance before tabling the
bill in Parliament. AFP
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