India’s ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday launched a landmark public food scheme for hundreds of millions of people, declaring it would banish hunger and be free of corruption.
Sonia told hundreds of cheering supporters that 800 million Indians would benefit from the scheme, aimed at fighting endemic malnutrition, but also considered a vote-winner for Congress ahead of next year’s elections.
“We have to struggle much more as there are millions of our brothers and sisters who go hungry and hence it is our responsibility to take care of them,” she said at an indoor stadium in New Delhi.
“And that is why we forged a law like the Food Security Bill so that hunger can be banished.”
The multi-million dollar program, the world’s largest, offers subsidized grain to nearly 70 percent of the population.
India to banish hunger with cheap food scheme
