Samajwadi Party to back Food Bill, to move amendments

A day after the Congress reached out to Mulayam Singh Yadav seeking support for passage of the Food Security Bill, the Samajwadi Party on Tuesday decided to support the legislation but will move amendments seeking to give farmers their due for crops and giving more grains per person.

The Samajwadi Party supremo chaired a meeting of party MPs from the Lok Sabha to discuss the party's stand on the Food Security Bill.

“We will support the bill when it is put to vote. But the party has decided to move amendments to make the scheme better and ensure the farmers get the right price for their crops. Other amendments are on giving pulses along with rice to improve nutrition. We also want that more grains should be given per family," a SP MP present in the meeting told PTI.

 Food Minister K V Thomas and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath had met Yadav on Monday to solicit his support for the Food Security Bill.

The government is keen on passing the bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday on the occasion of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's birth anniversary.