Food Security Bill: A "bait"

Food Security Bill: A“bait”?

India proudly proclaims itself as the single largest democratic world. But sadly Democracy in its worst form reigns in our land. Come elections we witness the beguile tricks of the old timers of the trade. Thanks to our political clout people seem to have vowed to succumb to their obnoxious tricks forever. Yet another, bait has been laid out for the forth coming general elections as well as ensuing assembly elections.

The sudden and dying urgency shown by the government in bringing out an ordinance on the Food Security Bill when monsoon session is due in a fortnight further speaks out its political implications on impending elections. The sequence of events in which this entire drama has been staged out springs up lot of doubts. Two aspects of the bill are of great consequence- the time and the manner it has been brought forward for discussion, approval and implementation.

On one hand while the fiscal deficit of India has reached a burgeoning high of 4.9% of GDP, government hasn’t shied away from implementing the subsidies. Food security bill if passed in the parliament would incur a burden on the exchequer to a tune 1.25 lakh crores and further 62.5 million tonnes of food grains have to be procured for the same. As the cost of cultivation of rice and wheat has increased to a tune of 45% minimum support prices can’t remain frozen. They have to be substantially increased thus increasing the burden of procurement. If the bill is implemented, agriculture subsidy deficit itself would increase to 1.25% from the existing 0.8% hence reducing the scope for diverting funds to some other developmental projects. If the government plans to contain the fiscal deficit as suggested by the Kelkar committee, other infrastructure and development oriented projects have to be suspended.

Firstly, the proposed bill aims to cover 2/3^rd of the population, with each person entitled to 5kg of the cereals per month-rice, wheat and coarse grains at Rs 3, 2, 1 for kg. Reports indicate that the public distribution system have an implementation capacity of only 46% highlighting the extent of leakages. PDS is already notorious for its pilferage. Government wants to rely on the same system for the distribution. While on the other hand, it is important to note that the most needy and homeless people fail to get the ration cards as the officials deny to sanction any card in absence of proper documents. Thus the actual beneficiaries are ostracised of all the benefits of the bill if any. To top it all, the cost of setting up the infrastructure needed for the implementation of the bill is not yet estimated. This includes identification of the beneficiaries, a system for procurement and storage of the food grains.

Secondly, biggest lacuna is how the beneficiaries are identified. This is another big issue as the study by Tendulkar Committee, suggests that any person earning Rs 28 in urban areas and Rs 22 in rural areas is considered to be living above poverty line. But still there is large conundrum as the numbers are not acceptable to most of experts due to the existing inflationary scenario of the country. (The analysis was based on the consumption patterns of the people). Hence Rangarajan Committee was set up to arrive at plausible numbers and statistics. Thus in absence of at least a fool proof method of identifying the beneficiaries what purpose is this proposed bill going to serve. Also states like Tamilnadu, Maharastra, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa have their own food subsidy programs, what will be the role of this bill in those states?

Thirdly, are the nutritional needs of the malnourished infants, children and pregnant women met by providing cereals alone, when prices of the fruits and vegetables are skyrocketing? Studies conducted on the impact of the food subsidies on the economically impoverished people in different countries haven’t indicated any perceptible increase in the nutritional status of the beneficiaries.

The basic intention of this essay is not undermining the efforts taken in the noble cause of providing food to the people experiencing the hunger pangs. But it is about the propriety. Already 360 millions of the people below poverty line receive kerosene, cooking gas, fertilisers and wheat/ rice at a subsidised price through the public distribution system. There is wide spread disapproval among them due to the poor quality of the grains. This further portends the state of poor storage facilities which results in wastage of grains to a tune of 6 million tonnes every year.  Finally this all comes down to the effectiveness with which these schemes are implemented. Every tier of the government agency needless to say is riddled with corruption and hence the benefits are just trickling down to the weaker section.

The eagerness and the urgency shown in introducing these bills will have a true meaning if the government shows a similar interest in delivering the goods to the needy. This necessitates the immediate need for revamping the existing PDS, identifying the beneficiaries, effective implementation and also curtailing the rerouting of the valuable food grains into commercial markets. In the absence of this deliverance system, the much hyped up Food Security Bill would result in kicking off a chain of scams.

India is severely criticised by the World Bank for its vast subsidies as it will supposedly increase economic inefficiency. On further thoughts, if the fiscal deficit on food subsidies is reduced, investments can be channelized to important infrastructure and development projects which can usher us into a realm of economic growth and development. India has to be aggressive with regards to its investments if it wants to remain competitive and garner the foreign direct investment. These subsidies on a long run would have a negative impact on the youth as they would be habituated to assured food supplies and thus become more dependent on the system for more. Instead programs that can make them self-reliant and skilled can bring the real transformation in their lives.

A choice has to be made at this juncture, since it is more than six decades of independence to either make effective use of the resources both natural and man-made or to burden the system with more deficits. Hence the bill is nothing but a “game-changer” for the government which is knee-deep in corruption. It is the desperate attempt by them to lure the masses and further assure themselves of the next term.

@ Copyrights reserved.