New Delhi, Dec 05: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today announced in the Rajya Sabha that he was willing to call an all-party meeting to discuss why the public distribution system (PDS) had failed even though the Centre had enough foodgrain stocks, asserting that all deaths in many parts of the country were not caused by hunger. Intervening during Question Hour, the Prime Minister said the reports that all deaths under such circumstances were caused by hunger, were not true. However, something was wrong somewhere because when the country had enough foodgrains, why were people still dying.
“The issue has been raised in both houses that when we have enough foodgrains, why are people still dying. But it is not true that all were dying of hunger. Somewhere something is wrong.``
The Prime Minister said many experiments had been done before on how to strengthen the PDS, whether panchayats should be involved or NGOs.
``I am ready to call an all-party meeting on this issue and would like the members` cooperation,`` he added.
Bureau Report