CEREAL-CENTRIC POLICIES IN INDIA-WARNING SIGNALS THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED!

During the last 4 years citizens in India were being led on a diet of promises most of them remaining on paper with very little impact on their day to day lives. One of the most hotly debated policies of the present government is the recently promulgated ordinance under its food security proposal to make available rice and wheat to more than two thirds of the population at Rs 1-2 per kg. Whether all the beneficiaries scheduled to be covered under the scheme really deserve this dole out is some thing the planners of this gross misuse of public funds did not bother to think! While poorest of the poor must be provided social support through such poverty alleviation programs why even well to do citizens who can afford to buy foods at the market price are being included as beneficiaries is beyond comprehension! Of course this is a controversial issue with no consensus among the experts. But common sense tells that public funds must be carefully deployed for maximum impact and in a country like India subsidies must be provided only to those below poverty line. One of the major flaws of the rice-wheat scheme is the government assumption that quantity is more important than quality when it comes to providing food security to its citizens. This distorted assumption is brought out recently by some experts who feel that the scheme needs a revisit in the light of latest statistics regarding the change in food consumption habits of the population. Here is a take on this vexatious issue.

"Even as the government is gearing up to bring in the cereal-centric National Food Security Bill (NFSB), Indian households are fast changing their consumption preferences from cereals to higher value food items. The share of monthly expenditure on cereals by families in total consumption spending has fallen drastically, prompting economists to suggest food security should have a larger basket than just cereals and should be reviewed periodically. Rural households spent 12 per cent of their total consumption outlay on food in 2011-12 against 18 per cent in 2004-05, while the share fell to 7.3 per cent from 10.1 per cent in urban parts over the period. The expenditure on pulses as a percentage share in total expenditure has remained constant in both urban and rural areas at 3.1 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively. Talking of milk products, it has risen to 9.1 per cent in 2011-12 from 8.5 per cent in 2004-05 in rural areas and has remained more or less the same in urban centres where it has declined marginally by 0.1 percentage points to 7.8 per cent in 2011-12. When it comes to egg, fish and meat, the percentage share has increased in both rural and urban sectors. In the rural population, it rose to 3.6 per cent in 2011-12 from 3.3 per cent in 2004-05 and in urban, the share grew marginally to 2.8 per cent from 2.7 per cent in the same period. While most economists said this is a sign of prosperity in the economy, some of them maintained that this could come as a blow to the highly-debated NFSB. "Complexion of system is changing. There is a gradual change towards higher value agriculture food items. We must recognise that and our food policy should be in tune with this emerging demand pattern,"  Ashok Gulati, chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) told Business Standard".

It is a paradox that calorie rich foods are becoming cheaper day by day while protective foods like fruits, vegetables, pulses, oil seeds, milk, egg, fish and meat are tending to be dearer! Even if government makes available cereals like rice and wheat at low cost, where will the poor go to get the much needed protective foods like milk and pulses, prices of which are in the stratosphere with government not able to do any thing about it?. What will be the consequences of such a policy of supplying the cereals only at controlled prices? Will this nation become a place for people with stunted growth ravaged by diseases caused by essential nutrients deficiency? Of course government's thinking that it has primary responsibility to prevent starvation deaths through such basic food supply schemes has some validity and employment generating opportunities through schemes like MGNREGA are there to empower the people to earn the needed money for spending on quality improvement of life. Unfortunately people fed on such doles became more and more dependent on the government with very little initiative for developing self sufficiency!  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD SECURITY BILL-A POLITICAL HARAKIRI?

After the high decibel proclamations and declarations during the last two years, the much talked about Direct Cash Transfer Scheme of the Government of India is yet to take off with repeated postponements. Besides the Re 1 per kg rice scheme touted as one of the most progressive measure of the government is still in the limbo though a few state governments like that in Tamil Nadu have already started such a program on their own without waiting for Delhi to pass the ridiculously called food security bill! The political class seems to think that food security means only access to cereals and by providing them at throw away price, the nutrition security is also taken care of! The poor people in this country are being taken for a ride by such populist measures with short term impact. True by providing the cereals the people might not die definitely it is adequate to keep the skin and the bone together! To add to the confusion there is a stupid suggestion that those entitled for food grains from the PDS should be given cash equivalent with which they can buy their food requirements and the "pundits" who are promoting this line of thinking are baiting the government with the possibility in saving thousands of crore of rupees by preventing pilferage from the PDS. Here is a take on this muddled thinking and the country will have to wait with bated breath as to what is going to happen between now and the forthcoming election in the middle of next year.

"India's hard won gains in achieving food security are in danger of being undermined by a clause in the National Food Security Bill that encourages States to adopt cash transfers in lieu of food entitlements under the Public Distribution System (PDS). Supporting this view, a recent report by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) concluded that the provision of food subsidies in the form of cash would save the government crores of rupees. Additionally, cash transfers will supposedly eliminate middlemen such as dealers and transporters, ensuring that the subsidy reaches intended beneficiaries. Cash transfers are a solution only if we view the PDS in isolation, rather than as part of a larger food policy. India's food policy begins with the procurement of rice and wheat and price support operations by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and the CACP. Each State is entitled to purchase a certain amount of food grains from the FCI at subsidised prices for distribution through its Fair Price (Ration) Shops. It is this distribution end that constitutes the PDS, and what the cash transfers would replace. Besides not taking into account the devaluing effect of inflation or the role of intrahousehold dynamics when it comes to cash transfers, its supporters do not specify what would happen to the agricultural commodities that are procured by the FCI. As the policy exists today, the government holds millions of tons of rice and wheat, well above the buffer norms required by law. To reduce its stocks, the government has preferred open market operations (to bulk consumers) and export to distribution through the PDS".

No one in the government including the economists and sociologists has given any thought to the adverse consequences of putting money in the hands of the beneficiaries in lieu of grains. There is no guarantee that this money will be spent on food only and it is more likely that there would be vast growth of liquor industry which will have to cater to the increased demand for its products from this section of population with food subsidy money in their hands! Another disaster which is inevitable is the transformation of this segment of population into a morbid mass with no motivation for working. One of the reasons for shortage of labor in the country is this distribution of "alms" in the name of poverty while there is this continuous claim that the unemployment rate is high in the country. Unemployment may be high but those who want to work can always get work. Combined with the NREGA assuring a daily wage of Rs 150 per person for at least 150 days, the "freebie" scheme under the food security bill can bebilitate this country beyond recognition!   

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE FOOD MINISTER FULMINATES-ANY TAKERS?

It is not for nothing that junior politicians are chosen as Ministers for portfolios connected with food. Right from its inception the Minister of Food Processing Industry has always been light weight politicians, largely for ornamental purpose. It was only recently the position was elevated to the cabinet level and this symbolism does not seem to have made any difference if the ministry's "activities and achievements" are critically audited. In the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, a heavy weight personality has been put in charge as a cabinet minister but he has very little time or inclination to manage the portfolio and do justice to this important area. Here again a junior minister has been allotted the food portfolio and this minister with his present stature even finds it difficult to meet a chief minister, that too from the alliance! He has been given the responsibility to canvas for the "illogical" food security bill now under consideration of the Parliament. Hear what he has to say about the "importance" and logic of this bill.

"We procure 30 per cent of the food grains we produce. In 2009-10, our total food grain production was 169 million tonnes and we procured 54.8 million tonnes, that is, we procured 32 per cent. The new poverty line will be determined on the basis of 2011 census, which is currently on. We need about 61 million tonnes as per the present PDS system. If the (food security) bill is enacted, we need 1 million tonnes more to provide 7 kg per person per month for priority sector and 3 kg per person per month for general category. At present, the subsidy bill is Rs 63,000 crore. The PDS provides ration on the basis of the 2000 census. If the new bill comes into effect, the subsidy bill will go up to Rs 1.11 lakh crore. If ration is provided on the basis of the present PDS system, it will be Rs 1.09 lakh crore. The difference is only Rs 2,000 crore on account of the food security bill as ration will have to be provided as per the existing PDS system. To afford an additional burden of Rs 2,000 crore is not an issue. Yes, it is important to plug in the leakages. We've started modernising PDS in the states. Out of 20 crore ration cards, we have weeded out duplicate cards and reduced them to 18 crore. That is 10 per cent. It will further come down as we believe that 20 to 30 per cent of the cards are bogus. It has to come down. Moreover, there is also loss of food grains due to damages in storage and transportation. But, that loss has come down from 2.5 per cent in 2008 to 0.5 per cent. Modernisation of PDS and introduction of Aadhar (UID) cards can virtually eliminate bogus cards, which means savings of 20-30 per cent in subsidy".

It is a tragedy of highest denomination that public money is squandered under some or the other populist schemes primarily to "catch" votes for the ruling parties and nothing exemplifies this madness more than the present food security bill. While the PDS system as it exists to day is in shambles, more food is sought to be pushed through this "pipe" with "gaping holes" obviously for leakage! Also being suggested is to give cash in the hands of families for buying food grains, in stead of depending on the PDS and there cannot be a better criminal scheme than this to siphon of public money "cleanly and neatly"! The misuse of the words food security is all the more evident when government is focusing only on grains with no consideration for really protective foods like legumes, fruits and vegetables which are beyond the reach of millions of poor and middle class families. The incoherent ramblings by this minister do not make sense to any one with a reasonable I.Q!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE FOOD SECURITY BILL-A BUREAUCRATIC MUDDLE IN THE OFFING?

Lot has been said and written about the pet socialistic project being taken up by the Government of India under the fanciful name of Food Security Bill though many honest, law abiding and average citizens in India are still in the dark regarding the implications of this project. It is all the more appalling that such an attempt is being made with hardly any "repair" to the existing chaotic and debilitating PDS infrastructure with most food grains being pilfered and looted, never reaching the intended beneficiaries! As some one had asked if food grains are going to be distributed practically free to 75% of the population, where is the need for these recipients to work at all! But logic and reality are never strong points with the present ruling dispensation at Delhi. Here is a perspective on the food security bill through the eyes of a foreign country which appears to be insightful and realistic.

"That is before you figure out what it will cost and who will do the legwork. The government says if the bill is legislated, the food subsidy burden will rise by Rs270 billion to Rs950 billion. Private but more reliable expert estimates put the cost at Rs6,000 billion in the first three years, or Rs2,000 billion a year. In spite of its noble intentions, the bill is more likely to aggravate and accentuate all the distortions introduced by government intervention in agriculture. As of October 1, the government had food grains stocks of 51.78 million tonnes, more than double the buffer and strategic reserve requirement on the same date. By cornering such huge volumes of grain, the government reduces supply in the open market, putting upward pressure on prices. At the same time, tonnes upon tonnes of grains just rot away in the absence of proper storage facilities. The same exercise is now proposed to be carried out on a much bigger scale. Procurement and distribution could get really messy and costly if central agencies take upon themselves to collect grain from villages, stock it in central warehouses and wheel them back to villages again. A scheme of this nature can be implemented only if there is a flawless and seamless system of storage, transportation and distribution. Since it does not exist, implementation is bound to suffer. That will lead to the familiar blame game between the centre and the states with heavy political overtones. The bill if implemented will distort cropping pattern further. Cultivation of wheat and rice, which would enjoy a wider ready market with guaranteed price, will get preference over pulses and cash crops. Private trade in food grains has reason to be seriously worried. Once the government offers grain at a price that's at least half (in many cases, a sixth) the market price to two-thirds of the population, why would anyone want to buy from a private trader? What is bad economics is often good politics. In the name of food security, a highly corrupt, bloated and wasteful system is sought to be imposed on the country. Yet no political party will have the gumption to oppose it. Which political leader would want to be seen as an 'enemy' of the poor who opposed provision of cheap food to the starving millions? The hope for the country lies in the inefficiency of its bureaucratic system. The food security bill exemplifies the self-defeating obduracy of bureaucratic modes of thinking. The administrative imagination (or lack of it) that has gone into the bill will ensure that the outcomes are deeply disappointing. That Indians have to count on the weakness of the state apparatus to mitigate impact of wrong policies is a devastating comment on the nature of things." 

It is truly said that the Bill as it stands to day is a bureaucratic creation with hardly any inputs from those knowledgeable about the dynamics of food procurement, storage, distribution and human nutrition. In the history of India bureaucratic schemes never worked and this is not going to be an exception. There cannot be a more wasteful national endeavor than this grandiose scheme. For an average middle class family, paying various taxes to the government and its countless agencies, this project is nothing but heart breaking viewed from the grandiosity and mind-boggling expenditure involved! Posterity will never forgive the politicians who are behind this scheme for the squandering of national wealth mindlessly and recklessly!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE MEGA FOOD CORRUPTION-SQUANDERING PUBLIC MONEY?

What is the best way to please a citizen whose vote is important in a democracy? Normally answer would be to serve the voters through developmental projects and help to make life easier but in India the political parties with all hues have discovered that populist measures with huge financial commitment from the exchequer are the surest bet! The ever vigilant Election Commission is trying its level best to prevent direct "bribing" of the voters through cash payment, obviously with the ill-gotten black money though those caught are minuscule of the vast amounts deployed during election time. In the US the government makes payment to the tune of billions of dollars to its super rich farmers who in turn fund the election of many law makers there. The not so "brand new" program for mass appeasement through the proposed Food Security Bill which is yet to be enacted into a law has the flavor of a massive corruption in the name of citizen welfare. In stead of identifying and supporting those who are in dire need of food, lacking the necessary purchasing power, here is a government trying to give food grains at literally throw away prices with hope that voters will be grateful to it and support the ruling political party in coming elections. Here is a take on this national folly which can cause irreparable damage to the working morale of the population at large! 

'The new Food Security Bill would provide subsidised grain to 75 percent of people in the countryside and half the urban population -- about 810 million -- who cannot afford to eat properly. The extra annual requirement for rice and wheat under the draft law will be at least 45.6 million tonnes -- doubling current levels handed out by the world's second-biggest rice and wheat producer. The food ministry is assuming it will need about 30 percent of total wheat and rice output which tops 180 million tonnes to cover the subsidised food, relying on increased yields and lower wastage to meet demand and keep exports on the agenda".

The investment by its sheer size is astronomical but what is of concern is that such ostentatious spending cannot be considered an investment at all because it is going to be a regular commitment from which no future government will have the courage to backtrack if required. Though it is suggested that this policy will continue till the people are brought out of the poverty cycle, this will be almost like the reservation policy for which the constitution had laid a time limit of twenty years but politicians found it expedient to perpetuate this policy indefinitely for enriching their vote banks. Imagine how effective it would have been if this amount were to be invested on creating permanent assets that will benefit all segments of population. After neglecting agriculture for decades and creating a situation for mass suicides of poor farmers, here comes a policy of appeasing the voters through  supply of food grains practically free without bothering to look at the logistics of producing the expanded need under the new Bill. Government's priority ought to have been to modernize the PDS regime making it pilfer proof and delivering the food to the really needy and deserving consumers in "decent" condition. What will be the future of a country where people do not have to work and earn to get their "daily bread" when it is offered on a platter, practically free of cost!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

A MISCONCEIVED FOOD SECURITY BILL-HARD DAYS AHEAD FOR INDIA?

The so called Food Security Bill is now the hot subject matter of discussion in the country with different people viewing it differently, depending on their political color. It is how ever clear that more than its economic or welfare impact on the citizens of this country, the agenda behind such a move is steeped in politics with the forthcoming elections in a few states with large expectations writ large on the face of the present rulers at Delhi! That the Bill is not sound in terms of its presumptions is well known with the existing massive subsidies likely to be doubled or tripled in the coming years. Similarly with the PDS in such utter disrepute who is is ultimately going to be benefited by this financial hemorrhage can easily be imagined. Here is an interesting expose on this subject slightly different from other views and it cannot be brushed aside as another criticism from the opponents.  

"But what is the empirical basis of the claims of widespread and rising hunger in India? Surely, we cannot go by the claims of the Food and Agricultural Organization, World Bank and many NGOs who themselves prosper from propagating the view that India and Africa suffer from ever-rising hunger and poverty. It so happens that successive expenditure surveys of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) have asked Indian households whether they have had enough to eat throughout the year. The proportion of those replying in the negative was a high 19% in rural and 7% in urban areas in 1983. But the proportion has steadily shrunken, dropping to less than 3% in rural and less than 1% in urban areas in 2004-05. In what sense then does India suffer from widespread and rising hunger? In their support, the proponents of the food security Bill point to the decline in calorie and protein consumption intake and rise in fat consumption over the years. According to the NSSO, the per-capita calorie consumption across all individuals fell from 2,266 to 2,047 between 1972-73 and 2004-05 in rural India, and from 2,107 to 2,020 in urban India over the same period. A similar trend has been observed in protein intake while the reverse trend has obtained in fat intake. This decline in calorie consumption is, however, reconciled with the sharp decline in the proportion of individuals reporting lack of food once we recognise that economic development has reduced the need for calorie consumption. Thus, increased mechanisation in agriculture and construction improved means of transportation and the shift away from physically-challenging jobs has reduced physical activity. Simultaneously, better absorption of food following improved epidemiological environment means that less calories must be consumed toproduce a given amount ofenergy. Improvements in adult height and all other vital health indicators such as life expectancy, infant mortality and child nutrition reinforce this argument.
Even so, let us be generous to the proponents for a moment and accept that hunger, as they wish to measure it, has risen and is widespread. The million-dollar question then is whether the food security Bill will provide the necessary correction. A moment's reflection shows that the answer is an unequivocal no. The Bill entitles the poor to 7kg of grain per person per month at prices of 1, 2 and 3 per kg for coarse grain, wheat and rice, respectively. So, if I were someone living in abject poverty in Rajasthan, what will be my response?  Each month, I will claim 35 kg of rice from the ration shop for five members of my family at the total cost of 105. I will then sell this rice at 25 per kg for 875 in the open market, buy the usual 25 kg of coarse grain my family consumes in the open market for 250 (at 10 per kg) and net the handsome profit of 520". 

That statistics in India are highly unreliable is a matter acknowledged universally and to base a massive plan like this on such flimsy and questionable data speaks volume about the quality of governance the good and honest citizens of this country is having now. Is there no escape from this disaster that is waiting to happen once the Parliament passes the Bill in its present form? If the present trend of political chicanery and sycophancy is any indication people of India may have to live with this type of political mis-adventure for some time to come. It is no wonder Dr Mahathir Mohamed, the architect of modern Malaysia rightly said about India's inability to match the performance of other emerging economies that the culprit is "overdose" of democracy in the country!




V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

THE BUFFER STOCK MUDDLE-IS THERE NO ACCOUNTABILITY IN INDIA?

Critics of Indian government policies and its style of governing are often tarred with a brush accusing them of vested interest and branded as politically motivated! Latest case is the reported mismanagement of buffer stock management which, in turn is closely related to country's food security, does not seem to have any priorities and characterized by lethargic response during periods of food crisis. Interestingly this accusation has come not from trenchant critics but from a Parliamentary committee on public undertakings and one should not forget that this has happened despite the UPA being the ruling combine that controls the government! It looks like food security is simply a populist slogan for politicians in the country without any serious intention to work seriously on achieving the same. Look at the priority of GOI to day when it is thinking only in terms of increasing subsidies from the exchequer for distribution of food grains at prices which are ridiculously low to population supposed to be "poor" though the Public Distribution System already existing has become so rotten even GOI does not know where bulk of the food ends up! Is this not an action for strengthening the "loot brigade" that operates in the country for siphoning off the PDS food grains before it reaches the beneficiaries?. If there is at at least a modicum of accountability those who have been looting the country should have been hanged long ago. Reports like this do not shame the perpetrators of such heinous crimes as ill gotten money is a great "eraser" of all sins!    

A Parliamentary committee has directed the government to ensure the finalisation of the buffer stocking policy for foodgrains within three months. While presenting its report today, the Committee on Public Undertakings headed by Jagdambika Pal expressed "grave concern" over the slow pace of action by the government on the handling of buffer stock policy for food grains. "Expressing their grave concern over the slow pace of action in a matter of serious national issue involving the food security of the country, the committee exhort the department (Food) to address this issue in right earnest and ensure finalisation of buffer stocking policy within 3 months of the presentation of this report," it pointed out. The panel in its earlier report presented to Lok Sabha in February 2009 had recommended that the Food Ministry should go in for intensive technological upgrades to review the buffer stock norms for food grains. It had also suggested that the ministry can take help from Economic Survey, Planning Commission, Finance Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, etc while fixing buffer stock norms. The Department of Food and Public Distribution (F & PD) in its action taken replies furnished in March 2010 had said that the Technical Group headed by F & PD Secretary had asked the National Centre for Agricultural Economics (NCAP) to review the existing buffer stock policy, it added. "The committee are, however, astonished at the subsequent action taken reply furnished by the department in January 2011 that while NCAP report on the subject matter had been considered by the technical group on buffer stocking policy, its report is yet to be finalised," the panel pointed out. The committee felt that the matter has not been given the serious attention that it deserved. The issue relates to the position of food grain stocks with the government in October 2003 and based upon which the Committee on Public Undertakings in its report in 2009 had advised the government to upgrade its buffer stock norms. The panel in its previous report in February 2009 had found the handling of buffer stock of food grains by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) as a case of mismanagement. The committee in its report then had observed that the government committed an error of judgement while handling food grain stocks during 2002-03 and 2003-04. The country had a food grains stock position of 152 lakh tonnes as on October 1, 2002 against the norm of 65 lakh tonnes, but on October 1, 2003, the stock of food grains stood at 52 lakh tonnes against the norm of 65 lakh tonnes, it said. "The committee feel that the government itself has to be blamed for the situation when it allowed high stocks to be piled up and then liquidating the same through exports leading to shortage," it had said. 

The latest extravaganza being unleashed by GOI is coming in the form of Food Security Bill which is likely to become a law soon if the present ruling group has its say and 75% of Indian citizens need not work hard any more because each person can get 7 kg of food grains per month for just Rs 7 while the market price is ruling around Rs 200 for the same quantity! With the poverty level of income being fixed at Rs 32 per day (under MGNREGA scheme Rs 100), one can understand poorest of the poor getting such help from GOI but it is beyond comprehension as to why food should be distributed at such a low cost to others. If this is not electoral calculation what else has motivated the GOI to go for such blatantly populist scheme under the banner of "right to food"? With Food Corporation of India in such a mess, as pointed out by the Parliamentary Committee, it defies logic and common sense as to how this mega "give away" scheme is going to be managed and what economic burden the country will have to bear for this ill considered move?

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

                                                         

WHO ARE THE "POOR" IN THE COUNTRY?-NO ONE KNOWS!

Reliable statistics can only be the basis for any credible planning process and India is a nightmare as far as this area is concerned. Most data available with the government and quoted extensively all around are mere guesstimates arrived at after some cursory survey carried out unscientifically with limited number of subjects. A recent example is provided by the GOI when it was announced that there are 53 towns and cities eligible for investment on retail by foreign companies when in reality there are only 46 of them! Here comes another gem from GOI which wants to continue with its targeted food security program, involving thousands of crores of rupees subsidy, all based on highly unreliable data at its disposal. This fault line has been exposed by a recent survey in Delhi by those concerned with such distorted planning process which is not inclusive but leaves many eligible beneficiaries in the cold! 

"If you have a kutcha house or have a tarpaulin to cover youself, the socio-caste survey will not consider you homeless. If a farmer has a hand-pump provided by the government or a kisan patra to take loans against that, the same BPL scheme could now disqualify him from a BPL card. If a widow has a 16 year-old son, she may end up losing the BPL status because the child is defined as an adult - even though MNREGA refuses to engage those below 18 years. If you have two rooms instead of one in your kutcha house, you could also lose out the BPL status. The Right to Food (RTF) campaign on Monday brought out these glaring examples of the failure of the new Socio-Economic Caste Survey to demand a universal PDS instead of a targeted approach as planned by UPA. Claiming that the survey would leave several lakh rightful claimants outside the new BPL list, the RTF campaign will gather a 1,000 such 'zero scorepati' people in Delhi on Tuesday, demanding that government needs to clarify on selection of beneficiaries before it considers the National Food Security bill. "The criteria being used to identify the poor under the survey are dubious and the food bill is a blunder," said National Advisory Council member jean Dreze addressing the media here on Monday. "How can the food bill be enacted without knowing the criteria for selecting the beneficiaries," he said. "It's like putting the cart before the horse," he added. Earlier, the Planning Commission and the rural development ministry had announced that it would dispense with the artificial poverty-line based cut-off for beneficiaries of the proposed food security bill. They had said the survey would be used as the basis for the identification of the poor, and set up a committee to finalize it. But Dreze and his colleagues pointed out that even as such glaring lacunae continued to exist, the survey had begun in several states like Rajasthan and Orissa and completed in some like Tripura. Another member of the RTF campaign said the Union rural development ministry had been insensitive when approached with the problems in the survey, and had given 'non-answers' to its pointed interventions even as the exercise continued'"

The controversy as to whether the Public Distribution System (PDS) should be targeted or universal is another issue which divides the nation, though there are points for as well as against both the mode of food security systems. Considering that India is a poor country, though the government may entertain the grandiose stance of being an economic super power, the resources required for universal PDS is mind boggling. Simple common sense should tell the planners that a family with income around Rs15000-25000 a month does not deserve state subsidized food grains and protagonists of both universal and targeted PDS policies want these relatively rich people to be included under the food security program being considered. On the other hand another alternative suggested calls for cash distribution to the beneficiaries in lieu of food grains. The tragedy is no one in this country knows who is really poor deserving state help for food security, how many of them are there and where they are located! When there will be clarity on these issues? Earlier this puzzle is solved better it will be for the country as well as the real poor people hoping in perpetuity for a better tomorrow!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD SECURITY BILL-WILL IT CHANGE THE PRESENT GROUND REALITIES?

Here is a take on the line of thinking of GOI regarding food security assurance to its people as enunciated in the proposed food security bill. While on paper it looks impressive one cannot be sure about the strategy and practical steps that are needed to implement it at the ground level and ensure that the targeted beneficiaries are really benefited

"The draft Food Security Bill makes it compulsory for state governments to pay a food security allowance to targeted sections in case of failure to supply food grain through a sweeping welfare scheme targeted at nearly three-fourths of the population. The amount will be decided by the central government. The draft bill also presses for a radical overhaul of the food distribution system by giving incentives to independent agencies that procure food grain, according to a the draft, viewed by ET. The bill calls for improved "modern and scientific" storage and doorstep delivery of grain to targeted public distribution system outlets. The National Food Security Act 2011 is the most expansive - politicians have called it showpiece-legislation of the UPA government in its second term in office. It covers all India, except Jammu and Kashmir. The priority households, the main beneficiaries of this bill, will be selected from the poorest 46% in rural areas and 26% in urban areas. Another 29% and 22% of the population from rural and urban areas, respectively will be treated as general category". "The bill also guarantees 7 kgs of grain to every person belonging to priority households and 3 kgs to individuals from general households every month at subsidised prices. The draft has cast the so-called National Food Security Bill 2011 into the mother of all welfare schemes by providing free food to children and pregnant women and encompassing swathes of people such as the destitute, the homeless and migrant workers, as ET had reported on Sunday. The draft bill also envisions a radical change in welfare schemes by making women of 18 years and above as head of selected households that can access rice, wheat and nutri-cereals with ration cards. The draft bill is that it pushes for the creation of an advisory body called the National Food Security Commission to help the central government implement the landmark welfare scheme. The commission will advise the central government on "synergising existing schemes and framing news ones for entitlements". It will also recommend steps for effective implementation of schemes through greater government oversight by dramatically overhauling the nation's food distribution system, says the draft". "Under the food commission's watch, guidelines will be issued for the training, capacity building and performance management of people involved in the implementation of welfare schemes, says the draft. The commission will also prepare annual reports on implementation of the Act. The commission will be headquartered in Delhi and comprise a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and five other members, provided that there at least two women and at least one person each from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The centre will pay the salaries of the commission's bosses, support staff and administrative expenses, says the draft. The emphasis on women and 'vulnerable' groups is a common thread running through the draft bill, which largely follows a script laid out by the National Advisory Council (NAC) led by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. For example, the draft bill's guidelines to identify the so-called priority and general households sharply resemble an NAC explanatory note on the bill". "The draft bill says that the centre must periodically prescribe guidelines to identify households selected for the food schemes, including exclusion criteria. It also says these households must be reviewed and updated through periodic surveys, which happens to be another key NAC recommendation to the food ministry, which has prepared the draft and is tasked with the Act's implementation. The draft bill also fixes responsibilities on the central and state governments. The centre must allocate "required quantity" of food grain to state governments under targeted PDS from a central pool of stocks. This allocation must be revised annually based on actual or estimated population counts. And in case of short supply of food grain, the centre must give states funds equivalent to the deficit at prices it fixes, says the draft. States must implement and monitor schemes to ensure "actual delivery and supply of grain to entitled persons". States are to also establish food security commissions under the ambit of the national advisory body, says the draft. State governments are to support breastfeeding for six months from birth through "counselling and related assistance".

How far the new policy will alleviate the hunger and poverty in a country, notorious for corruption and misuse of public resources, remains to be seen. While the thinking behind the Bill is laudable, logistical problems and hang over from the past can derail the new approach. Another imponderable thing is whether this Bill will remain on paper or be implemented. With the food subsidy expected to go up from the present Rs 60,000 crore to 100,000 crore a year if and when the new policy is implemented, the country can ill-afford to waste such a huge public money through mismanagement and inefficiency.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com