India’s Landmark Food Bill Passed Amid Stormy Parliament Clashes

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh won a rare victory by passing a landmark bill through the lower house of parliament that expands the world’s biggest food program, a key plank of his party’s re-election strategy.

Frustrated by delays in parliament, Singh relied on an executive order last month to enact proposals that will give subsidized grain to two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion citizens. Seeking to avoid the embarrassment of the order lapsing in the middle of next month, the minority government was able to pass the legislation in the Lok Sabha late last night with the support of other political parties. It still needs to be passed by the upper house, the Rajya Sabha, to become law.