Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda today accused the Centre of bringing the food security ordinance in a 'hurry'.
He also alleged that a similar scheme for providing cheap cooked meals to poor introduced by him in the state was discontinued by it.
"Food Security Bill was no doubt a good move but the haste and anxiety of the UPA government to pass it was not proper," Munda said while addressing a press conference here.
The senior BJP leader said the bill should have been discussed and debated in details in Parliament and introduced after taking all parties into confidence. H alleged that the government was not willing to discuss the issue.
"In fact, the government has changed the criteria set for the bill," Munda said referring a report which stated that a person earning Rs 32 per day in urban area and Rs 28 in rural belt would not be considered as below poverty line (BPL).
The former chief minister said during his tenure he had announced to provide foodgrains to BPL families on cheap rate and urged the government to include 11 lakh more families of the state in the BPL category but the Union government refused to consider it. The existing list has 23 lakh BPL families.
Referring to the popular scheme 'Mukhyamanti Dal-Bhat Yojna' under which cooked meals were given for Rs five to BPL families at various outlets, Munda asked why the scheme was discontinued following imposition of President's rule in the state in January when it was benefiting the BPL families of the state.
"It was ridiculous that a popular scheme, which served the BPL and poor families by providing stomach-full meal for cheap rate, was discontinued for no reason," he said.
