Cong dismisses Oppn remarks on food bill ordinance

The Congress on Thursday dismissed allegations of opposition parties that it has committed impropriety by taking an ordinance route to pass the food bill.  

“It is indeed amusing that the ones who are shedding crocodile tears on propriety are also the ones who have acquired a PhD in ‘disruptionites’,”  Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said, referring to frequent disruption of parliamentary proceedings in the recent past. Though he did not name the BJP, it was clear that his irony was directed at the main opposition.

“Substantive questions or substantive criticism with regard to the Food Security Ordinance has to be answered once the President has promulgated it. But I am quite amused by those who are talking about parliamentary propriety, those getting worried about parliamentary sessions and the fact that a Parliament session was on the cusp,” Tewari told reporters.

“Those who have acquired a PhD  in ‘disruptionites’, the opposition, needs to be circumspect as to the manner in which they have treated Parliament. Do we not recall the November session of 2010 which was wiped out. Don’t we recall the Monsoon Session last year that was completely washed out,” he asked.

Meanwhile, the CPM continued to attack the government’s decision to promulgate an ordinance on Food Security Bill and declared that it would push for amendments when it comes in the Parliament.

“The Union Government failed to bring in a proper legislation for nearly four years for the consideration of Parliament, and now an ordinance is being promulgated. The ordinance route shows contempt for Parliament and is anti-democratic,” the CPM Polit Bureau said in a statement.

‘India not ready for food bill’

Industry body, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, in a statement on Thursday said that the country is not yet prepared for a Food Security Bill, reports DHNS from New Delhi. Ficci said the Bill has come at a time when the country is trying hard to get back on the path of fiscal consolidation.

“While there is no denying the fact that right to food and attaining proper nutrition should be the basic provision for every citizen in the country, but the recent announcement seems a little premature and that the country is not fully prepared to roll out such a program,” said Didar Singh, secretary-general, Ficci.