Modi criticises Centre on Food Security Bill

Ahmedabad, Jun 13. Amid the Centre's efforts to push implementation of the ambitious National Food Security Bill, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today said that Congress-led UPA government was rubbing salt on the wounds of people already grappling with price hike. "The Congress government at Delhi (Centre) is rubbing salt on the wounds of people battling with price hike," Modi wrote on Twitter. "After ten years, the government at Delhi has thought about the poor, we doubt their intentions," he said. "For the last ten years in Gujarat, poor are getting wheat at Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per kg through public distribution system...Is this not food security," Modi wrote on the micro blogging site. Terming the National Food Security Bill a vote bank gimmick of Congress when elections are round the corner, Modi had yesterday said that they (Cong) only care for votes and did not abide by the apex court's directives on grain distribution. The Centre is making all out efforts to draw an all party consensus over the Food Bill. It has proposed to convene a special session to discuss the food bill. The Food Security Bill aims at giving legal rights to nearly 67 per cent of the population over a uniform quantity of 5 kg food grains at a fixed price of Rs 1-3 per kg through ration shops.