The Indian government launched a $22 billion welfare scheme on Wednesday to give cheap food to hundreds of millions of people, a centrepiece of the ruling Congress party's plan to win a third term in elections due by May 2014.
The minority government sidestepped India's unruly parliament and resorted to an executive order to implement the programme, hoping to take the credit for a vote-winning plan.
"The union cabinet has approved the food security ordinance unanimously," Food Minister K.V. Thomas told reporters after the cabinet meeting. The measure would be sent to the president on Wednesday for his signature, he said.
Under the plan, the government will sell subsidised wheat and rice to 67 percent of its 1.2 billion people.
India is home to a quarter of the world's hungry poor, according to U.N. figures, despite being one of the world's biggest food producers and experiencing years of rapid economic growth. Full story...
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The minority government sidestepped India's unruly parliament and resorted to an executive order to implement the programme, hoping to take the credit for a vote-winning plan.
"The union cabinet has approved the food security ordinance unanimously," Food Minister K.V. Thomas told reporters after the cabinet meeting. The measure would be sent to the president on Wednesday for his signature, he said.
Under the plan, the government will sell subsidised wheat and rice to 67 percent of its 1.2 billion people.
India is home to a quarter of the world's hungry poor, according to U.N. figures, despite being one of the world's biggest food producers and experiencing years of rapid economic growth. Full story...
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