Having publicly objected to the Communal Violence Bill drafted by the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC), the Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government has now sent its strong objections to Sonia’s pet project, National Food Security Bill, terming it against the sanctity of the federal structure of the Constitution.
Gujarat has objected to provisions that allow the Centre to prescribe terms and conditions for the appointment of district grievance redressal officers, empowers it with rule-making powers and gives the Centre the power to direct the state governments. It asserted that “such provisions are tantamount to undermining the federal structure of our Constitution and also imply mistrust of the state government”.
Registering its protest against the food Bill, the Modi government has told the Central government that while “creating legal entitlements may be easy”, the country “needs to reassess the culture of government subsidies and doles” under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had “initiated the process of liberalisation in 1990s”.