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Journalism of Courage
Food security bill should not be pushed through. A discussion in Parliament is needed to expose its flaws
Amid the acrimony in Parliament,the government tabled its food security bill,a work-in-progress since the beginning of its term in 2009. On Monday,it initiated a preliminary discussion on the bill even as opposition MPs shouted slogans in the well of the House. Evidently,the Congress is in a hurry to push this populist bill through,given that it is the most important item on party president Sonia Gandhis to-do list,and is set to be pitched as one of the partys main election planks. While it has thankfully rejected the undemocratic option of ramming it through as an ordinance,this effort to push the bill through without full consideration by all parties is just as problematic. If it is passed in this climate of non-cooperation,it is not just that its very legitimacy will be suspect,but also that its most basic conceptual flaws will remain unaddressed.
The government should not take advantage of the parliamentary impasse to roughly push the bill through. There are nearly 70 amendments that require clause-by-clause scrutiny and debate. If this is done right,the bills fuzzy logic and operational pitfalls will be made clear in the House. At the very least,Parliament owes citizens a comprehensive,and unsparing,discussion of the proposal.
