 bill no lxxxi of 2007 the maintenance of food, potable water and fodder supplies in drought affected areas bill, 2007 a billto provide for the compulsory maintenance of food and potable water supplies for human consumption and fodder for the livestock of the farmers in drought affected areas by the union government with the co-operation of the government of the concerned state and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1  (1) this act may be called the maintenance of food, potable water and fodder supplies in drought affected areas act, 2007short title, extent and commencement5(2) it extends to the whole of india (3) it shall come into force with immediate effectdefinitions2  in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "drought affected area" means any area situated in any part of the country which has got below normal rainfall in any season of a calender year and which in the opinion of the central government has been affected by drought and declared, by notification in the official gazette, to be a drought affected area for such period as may be specified in the notification;5(b) "food" includes cereals such as wheat, maize, barley etc rice, pulses and edible oils and fuel for cooking;(c) "fodder" includes the dry and green fodder generally fed to the livestock by the farmers and others;(d) "government" includes both the central and state government; (e) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act103 the central government shall, with the assistance of the state government in whose jurisdiction the drought affected area falls, maintain uninterrupted food supplies in such area for the inhabitants in such manner and for such time as may be prescribedcompulsorymaintenanceof food supplies in drought affected areas154 the government shall maintain adequate supply of potable water through tankers or through other means as it may consider appropriate in the drought affected area for such period as may be prescribedgovernment to maintain supply of potable water in drought affected areas5 the government shall maintain adequate supplies of fodder in a drought affected area by procuring fodder from other states in such manner and for such period as may be prescribedcompulsory maintenance of fodder supply in drought affected areas206 the central government shall provide, from time to time, after due appropriation made by parliament by law, adequate funds for carrying out the purposes of this actfunds to be provided by the central government savings7 the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any otherlaw for the time being in forcepower to make rules8 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules forcarrying out the purposes of this act statement of objects and reasonslarge number of areas in various parts of the country particularly in the states of jharkhand, bihar, madhya pradesh, orissa, andhra pradesh, etc are frequently affected by unprecedented drought and play havoc in such areas the palamu division in bihar and kalahandi in orissa have become synonymous with drought it has been observed that during the drought period the inhabitants do not have food to eat and water to drink for their survival resulting in their exodus in many areas starvation deaths also occur the worst sufferers in such time are the mute livestock people leave them stray to fend for themselves and without fodder and water they ultimately die the governments at the centre and state provide some sort of relief to the people of such areas but the mute animals remain uncared for it is, therefore, necessary that the supply of food and potable water and also the fodder be maintained on priority and it should remain uninterrupted so that the people do not leave such places and the livestock too get its fodder and water for its survivalhence this bills s  ahluwalia financial  memorandumclause 6 of the bill provides that the central government shall provide adequate funds for the implementation of the bill the bill, if enacted and brought into operation will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india but at this stage it is not possible to estimate the exact amount likely to be involved however, it is estimated that a sum of rupees ten crores is likely to be involved as recurring expenditure per annumit may also involve a non recurring expenditure of rupees fifty lakhs from the consolidated fund of india memorandum   regarding   delegated  legislationclause 8 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of this bill the rules will relate to matters of details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character rajya  sabha———— a billto provide for the compulsory maintenance of food and potable water supplies for humanconsumption and fodder for the livestock of the farmers in drought affected areas by the union government with the co-operation of the government of the concerned state and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(shri s s ahluwalia, mp)mgipmrnd—5070rs(s-5)—30-11-2007