The government on Wednesday sought public comments on the draft National Food Security Bill, which seeks to provide a legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrains to 75 per cent of the country's rural population and 50 per cent of urban India.
The draft Bill has been put up on the Food Ministry's website for feedback from concerned stakeholders.
Under the proposed Act, which Congress had promised to institutionalise in its manifesto for the 2009 General Elections, the government has divided the beneficiaries of the food security law into two categories.
These are: priority households (below poverty line families) and general households (above poverty line families). Out of the rural population to be covered under the Act, at least 46 per cent of the people would fall in the category of 'priority households'.
In urban areas, at least 28 per cent of 'priority households' will be covered. "The proposed entitlement in the Bill is 7 kg of foodgrains per person, per month, for priority households at an issue price of Rs 3/kg (rice), Rs 2/kg (wheat) and Rs 1/kg (coarse cereals)," an official statement said.
In the case of general households, the Bill seeks to supply 3 kg of foodgrains per month to each individual at an issue price not exceeding 50 per cent of the Minimum Support Price (MSP)
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