Stressing that UPA government wanted to benefit 67 per cent population through Food Security Bill, Congress today said Opposition is creating hurdles because elections are close.
"This is not the first welfare scheme of UPA government, there are 14 other flagship schemes and the concept of Food Security Bill is also not new as it was mooted in 2009 and all states were also apprised of it then," spokesman of National Food Security ordinance, Mukesh Naik said here.
"Opposition parties seemed to think that the government might gain political advantage, and so they created hurdles in its way," he said.
Naik said that the aim of the government is to benefit 67 per cent population through the scheme.
"Since the elections are nearing, the ordinance is being viewed with a political angle but the government does not want to indulge in politics," he said.
He also refuted charges that the scheme would not benefit the farmers saying that it was a wrong notion.
The Congress leader, who would be touring other states too for creating awareness on the subject, said that views from all states, including Uttar Pradesh, political allies, non-Congress functionaries, social activists, economists and NGOs were also taken.
