Govt may skip Parliament session, pass food security bill via ordinance

There has been some discussion on whether or not the government will introduce a special session in Parliament to pass the food security bill, and now it looks as though it won’t go that route at all. The Union Cabinet is expected to clear an ordinance for the bill today, setting up another massive showdown with the BJP, which is opposed to pushing through the landmark legislation without discussion in Parliament, said NDTV. [caption id=“attachment_840075” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] However with fears that the BJP will also disrupt the special session, and statements by the Samajwadi Party that they will ‘register their protest’ against the bill when it is brought up for discussion, the Congress, which is reportedly under pressure from President Sonia Gandhi to get the bill passed as soon as possible, is not in the mood to take chances. The ordinance will have the same provisions as the bill, and will need to be approved within six weeks of Parliament’s return. Food Minister KV Thomas, Law Minister Kapil Sibal and Finance Minister P Chidambaram are against an ordinance, and favour a Parliament session, CNN-IBN reported. However Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and many others within Congress reportedly want an ordinance. The channel added that Congress President Sonia Gandhi is putting pressure on the party to get the Bill passed as soon as possible. Kamal Nath said after the UPA’s coordination committee meet that the Food Security Bill was not discussed. He said that the UPA discussed the attack in Chhattisgarh. “We cannot minimise what has happened in Chhattisgarh. It is an attack on the foundation of our democracy.”