Food Bill only in next session: Thomas

“We will be able to table the Food Security Bill only in the Winter Session of Parliament,as consultation with state governments and various ministries is still on,” he said.

He added that his ministry has sent the Bill to state governments for their comments.

The announcement is likely to further delay the implementation of the Congress’s poll promise of enacting a legislation for cheap food grains to the poor.

The draft Bill envisages differential legal entitlement of cheap food grains to about 70 per cent of population in the country. Given the fact that the Bill will be sent to a standing committee of Parliament for examination,the actual passage of the Bill may not happen before the Budget session next year.

This leaves the UPA-II government with only the last two years of its tenure to implement the proposed legislation.