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The union cabinet today could not discuss an ordinance to implement the ambitious National Food Security Bill (NFSB) because many ministries were not prepared with the response.
The ordinance for the bill which seeks to guarantee legal entitlement for food to almost 67% of the Indian population is now expected to be taken up either later this week or sometime next week.
Officials said as the copies of ordinance was sent to the cabinet secretariat only in the morning, most departments and ministries had very little time to prepare their response.
The bill which provides for minimum 5 kilogram of wheat, rice or coarse cereals per person per month. Wheat will be provided at Rs 2 per kg, rice at Rs 3 per kg and coarse cereals at Rs 1 per kg.
The government is expected to incur around Rs 1,23,000 crore for implementing the ambitious programme.
