New Delhi: 10:53 pm: Food Minister KV Thomas hopeful that the Food Bill will be passed in the Rajya Sabha.
10:47 pm: Lok Sabha passes the Food Security Bill. The Bill was passed after debating for 9 hours. The bill was supported by the BJP.
9:43 pm: Amendment moved by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj for cash in lieu of food defeated in the Lok Sabha.
8:52 pm: Sonia and Rahul Gandhi leave Parliament while voting was on on amendments to the Food Security Bill.
8:45 pm: Voting on the Food Security Bill begins in Parliament.
8:29 pm: The Samajwadi Party withdraws amendments to the Food Security Bill.
8:25 pm: Amendments to the Food Bill moved by CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta and CPI(M) leader Sampath were defeated in the Lok Sabha.
8:14 PM: Lok Sabha takes up amendments to the Food Security Bill for voting.
7:56 pm: Food Minister KV Thomas said, "As we go on implementing the Food Security Bill we will plug the loopholes." He said the bill covers 82 crore population of the country and it has been brought after wide consultations.
7:50 pm: Food Minister KV Thomas while speaking in Lok Sabha on Food Security Bill said that for the bill to be successful, both the central and the state governments need to work together.
7:12 pm: Shiv Sena likely to support the Food Security Bill.
6:37 pm: The Samajwadi Party has indicated to the government that it will stage a walkout at the time of voting on the Food Security Bill in Lok Sabha.
5:18 pm: Around 318 notices of amendments have been given on the Food Security Bill.
5:02 pm: The Monsoon Session of Parliament has been extended till September 6. The session was suppose to end on August 30.
4:15 pm: The Lok Sabha will vote on the Food Security Bill on Monday evening. Food Minster KV Thomas will reply on debate at 7.30 pm.
3:55 pm: Mulayam Singh Yadav questioned the government motive in bringing the Food Security Bill, claiming that it has been done with an eye on elections. He said, "The government is bringing this Bill with elections in the mind. There is nothing for the poor. There should be a clarity on the number of the poor to be covered."
3:46 pm: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav says before finalising the Food Security Bill, the Central government should have called the chief ministers of all states and taken their views into account.
3:40 pm: Sonia Gandhi said under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the government brought the RTI and NMREGA. "We brought Forest Rights Act, Right to Education Act. Food Security Bill is the fifth such social security bill. This legislation is a beginning to wipe out poverty and malnutrition. We should overcome differences to pass bill unanimously," she said.
3:39 pm: Sonia Gandhi claimed that Food Security Bill focusses on the needs of the farmers and agriculture. We have always given prominence to farmers and agriculture. For successful implementation of Food Security Bill, leakages in PDS has to be plugged. There is a need for improvement in PDS. We have to manage resources and we have to do it," she said.
3:36 pm: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi the government is taking a a historic step with the Food Security Bill. "We had promised in 2009 that we will bring the Food Security Bill. I am happy to say that we are fulfilling the promise. A clear message is being sent out today that India is taking care of providing food to all its citizens. We are ensuring that no child will be malnourished. It's an opportunity that we are providing food security to all. It will also ensure a stop to food grain wastage," she said.
3:20 pm: Murli Manohar Joshi said the government is not giving food to all whereas universal food guarantee should be the aim. Taking a potshot at the Congress, he said, "I live in a city. What should I eat? Should I eat coal or spectrum?"
2:40 pm: BJP leader MM Joshi said, "This Bill is not Food Security Bill this is vote securing bill."
2:27 pm: MM Joshi said, "Government has taken four years to formulate the Food Bill. In 2009, when UPA-2 come in the power they promised to bring Food Security Bill. After 4.5 years when hey are about to go they are bringing this Bill. We want to know what they were doing in the last 4.5 years."
2:20 pm: CPI leader Prabodh Panda moved the resolution for disapproval of the Food Security Bill. He said, "This Bill is not complete and ignores some important points."
2:05: The Lok Sabha has taken up the Food Security Bill. Food Minister KV Thomas has initiated the debate in the House. He said, "The matter regarding identification of beneficiaries will be left to the state governments. Pregnant woman are entitled for Rs 6,000 per year. This scheme will provide more accountability in the current Public Distribution System. Children between 6 months and 18 years of age are entitled to ICDS and mid day meal under this Bill, said."
Meanwhile, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said, "I am hopeful that Food Bill will be passed."
12:37 pm: Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 pm after uproar by Samajwadi Party MPs against attack on their office in Delhi. Lok Sabha adjourned till 2 pm.
12:25 pm: BJP Lok Sabha MP Yogi Adityanath says Hindu sentiments have been hurt by the Uttar Pradesh government. "We were picked up by police and not allowed to conduct puja. The government should bring a law for Ram temple. We have been stopped from our constitutional rights. These people are changing the meaning of secularism. This government gives shelters to jehadis and hurts sentiments of Hindus. Samajwadi Party has created jungle raj in Uttar Pradesh," said Adityanath.
12:30 pm: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said in Lok Sabha that the Ayodhya dispute was not new and the matter is pending in the court. He blamed the BJP of creating a situation of riots in the past. He said that the Supreme Court had issued a directive that no action should be taken until a decision has been made. He defended the party's decision to ban the yatra and said that they only followed what the Supreme Court asked them to do. "SC directed that till the time there is no judgement nothing should happen. We didn't beat up anyone, we only maintained law and order," Yadav said.
12:15 pm: Shinde said that he had asked the Maharashtra Home Minister to have the trial of the case in fast track court and also assured the House that early judgement will be delivered.
12:13 pm: "The statement of the male companion of the survivor has been recorded, based on that the police released the sketches. A gangrape case has been registered in the NM Joshi marg police station," Shinde said.
12:10 Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde makes a statement on Mumbai gangrape in Lok Sabha.
12:00 pm: Rajya Sabha resumes amid protests from the MPs. Papers are being laid on the table as the Speaker tries to make the House function.
11:50 am: Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati accused the Samajwadi Party of joining hands with the VHP over the Ayodhya Yatra saying that "no such proposal of a 84-kosi yatra came during my tenure. VHP leader had met Mulayam Singh. It surely was a joint gameplan of the VHP-SP."
11:41 am Discussion over the Food Security Bill is likely to begin in Lok Sabha at 2:00 pm.
11:34 am: BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu slammed the Samajwadi Party and blamed them for disruption in the House. "SP came with a pre-determined plan to disrupt the house, playing cheap vote bank politics. It will boomerang on them. They are trying to divert from their failures on law and order front," Naidu said.
11:31 am: Lok Sabha has been adjourned again, minutes after it resumed at 11:30 am.
11:21 am: Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 12:00 noon amid uproar over VHP's Ayodhya Yatra.
11:10 am: Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 11:30 am after uproar in the House over ban on the Ayodhya Yatra by the UP government.
11:07am: Ruckus over Ayodhya Yatra in the House, SP MPs shout slogans on the floor.
11:05 am: Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath speaks to Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj appealing to allow the House to run. The government claims that BJP has assured them that they will allow Parliament to function.
10:45 am: BJP has given a suspension of question hour notice in Parliament over the Ayodhya issue. Yogi Adityanath who has given the notice in Parliament said, "I have given suspension of question hour notice in Parliament. I will raise this issue in Parliament. It is an insult. Congress is also behind this act against religious gurus."
UPA's flagship scheme, Food Security Bill is likely to be taken up in Lok Sabha on Monday. The government has not been able to take up the Bill in the House till now due to repeated din and disruptions because of which several days of the Monsoon session have been lost.
However, the Bill might be headed for another roadblock after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalaitha said that the AIADMK will vote against it. She said the Bill in its present form does not help Tamil Nadu and most of her demands had not been accepted by the Central government.
She blamed the Congress-led UPA government for not incorporating the amendments suggested by her in the Food Security Bill. "Under these circumstances, the Food Security Bill with its present amendments, which is due to come up for discussion in Lok Sabha on August 28, 2013, is not acceptable. AIADMK will vote against the Bill," she said in a statement.####Live: For Food Bill to be successful, Centre, state govts need to work together, says Thomas
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