JOIN USPresident Pranab Mukherjee is expected to sign the ordinance on food security today.
The President's Secretariat received the ordinance at 10 pm last night.It will be given to the President for his consideration once he returns from IIT Kanpur later in the day, Rashtrapati Bhavan sources said.
Brushing aside political opposition, Government had on Wednesday decided to issue the ordinance to give nation's two-third population the right to get 5 kgs of foodgrains every month at highly subsidised rates of Rs 1-3 per kg.
The Food Security programme when implemented will be the biggest in the world with the government spending estimated at Rs 125,000 crore annually on supply of about 62 million tonnes of rice, wheat and coarse cereals to 67 per cent of the population.
Opposition parties have slammed the government for bringing the ordinance, accusing it of bypassing Parliament which is due to meet in a few weeks and acting in a hurry with an eye on polls.
The government has rejected the charge, saying it wants to provide food security to crores and alleged that Opposition leaders, who had earlier disrupted Parliament sessions were now shedding "crocodile tears" over parliamentary propriety.