New Delhi to launch low-cost food program for 800 million people

21 Aug. 2013: The Indian government is set to launch a food security programme that would provide low-cost food to 800 million people. India has a population of about 1.2 billion people. The plan includes a 5-kg supply of grains per person per month at a fixed price of 1-3 rupees per kilo. The goal is to reduce the problem of hunger, which still touches two Indians in three. The programme is part of the government's controversial Food Security Bill, already proposed several times by the ruling Congress party but not yet approved by Parliament. Many critics have attacked it, arguing that it is a political move that threatens the government's finances.