TN seeks more amendments in Food Security Bill

Chennai, Aug 25: As the UPA government gears up to seek passage of the Food Security Bill, Tamil Nadu insisted that some of the suggestions it mooted including extending the scheme to entire urban population be included in the set of amendments proposed.

"While some of the key issues have been addressed in the first set of amendments proposed, there are still some outstanding issues which would require to be addressed before the present National Food Security Bill truly assures food security to the Nation and in particular to Tamil Nadu", Chief Minister Jayalalithaa noted in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"Hence, I request you to kindly consider the remaining suggestions for amendments and ensure that our concerns are adequately addressed before the Bill is passed," she demanded in a letter she shot off to Singh yesterday and the copies of which were released to the press on Sunday.

She pointed out that the state's suggestion that entire urban population should be eligible for subsidised foodgrains has not been accepted and stressed "if not 100 per cent, atleast 75 per cent should be covered on par with rural population".

PTI