The Indian government is mulling a special session of Parliament in order to pass a landmark bill to ensure subsidized food for the country's poor, sources said Friday.

More than 800 million people or two-thirds of the country's 1.2 billion strong population live below the poverty line in India.

"The Food Security Bill, once passed, will give the poor a legal right to food. The government intends to make it a law by passing the bill during the special session of Parliament, after it recently shelved plans to pass it through as an ordinance," the sources said.

According to the bill, every poor household in India will get a kilogram of rice at three Indian rupees (six U.S. cents), wheat at two Indian rupees (four U.S. cents) and millet at one Indian rupee (two U.S. cents). Moreover, every poor household will be entitled to at least five kg of grain a month.

The scheme, an election promise by the ruling Congress party in 2009, is likely to cost the country's exchequer a whopping 1.3 trillion rupees (23.9 billion U.S. dollars) every year.

But, both Houses of Parliament -- the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and the Lok Sabha (Lower House) -- will have to pass the bill by two-third majority to make it a law.

Experts say that it is, however, not clear whether the opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, will support the bill in Parliament as it may give the scam-tainted Congress-led United Progressive Alliance a big advantage over them in the general elections slated for next year. Endi

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)