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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

A bigger helping for food Bill
-The Business Standard

FM allocates Rs 10,000 cr to implement the programme; this is apart from the usual food subsidy requirement of Rs 80,000 cr for the year

The most ambitious social security programme of the government, the National Food Security Bill, got a leg-up in the 2013-14 Budget, with Finance Minister P Chidambaram allocating Rs 10,000 crore for implementing it.

This allocation is over and above the usual food subsidy requirement of Rs 80,000 crore for the year.

The total food subsidy will now be around Rs 90,000 crore.

Officials in the department of food said the additional allocation will help in early implementation of the proposed law.

It is expected to be tabled in Parliament during the latter half of this session.

The finance minister said: "The National Food Security Bill is a promise of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government. I hope Parliament will pass (it) as early as possible. Members will be happy to know that I have set apart Rs 10,000 crore, over and above the normal provision for food subsidy, towards the incremental cost that is likely under the Act."

The Bill, which is likely to provide legal entitlement for cheap grain to 67-70 per cent of the population, is being vetted by the food ministry after a standing committee of Parliament suggested some major changes in the original version, tabled in Parliament last year.

The standing committee on food, consumer affairs and public distribution had recommended that the below-poverty-line (BPL) and the above-poverty-line (APL) categories be merged.

It also suggested a uniform five kg of grain be distributed per person every month.

The distribution price for a kg was suggested as Rs 3 for rice, Rs 2 for wheat and Rs 1 for coarse cereals.

The earlier version had recommended seven kg of grain per person a month to priority category households, and three to four kg a head to general category households.

The former's categorisation was similar to the current classification of below poverty line, while the general category was similar to above poverty line.

The House standing committee recommended doing away with the classification and simplifying the Bill.

It also advocated that the coverage under the Bill be raised to 67 per cent of the population from the earlier 64 per cent, of which at least 75 per cent should be in rural India and 50 per cent in urban.

The food ministry has accepted all major recommendations of the standing committee, barring merging of the Antyodaya Anna Yojana into the uniform category.

The Antyodaya Anna Yojana is aimed at providing foodgrain to the poorest. It is considered to be a major success. The scheme was launched by the National Democratic Alliance government in December 2000.

The food ministry suggested 90 per cent of the population in 225 poor districts and seven hilly states be covered under the Bill.

Commenting on the latest allocation, Sanjay Kaul, managing director and chief executive officer of National Collateral Management Ltd, said: "The Budget allocation of Rs 10,000 crore towards the proposed Food Security legislation is clearly a gross under-provision."

India's annual foodgrain requirement after the latest version of the Bill is implemented fully is expected to remain intact at 55-60 million tonnes.

With entitlements at seven kg per person for BPL and three to four kg for APL households, the grain requirement would have swelled to almost 70 million tonnes, while the subsidy requirement would have been almost Rs 120,000 crore.

Though the government is hopeful that the Bill will be uniformly implemented across all the states, some Opposition-ruled states have raised serious objections to some of the provisions. Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are among these.

Tamil Nadu has said a strict no to the Bill, while Chhattisgarh has already implemented its own version of such a law.

Because of the opposition to the Bill, it is likely that Congress-ruled states might implement it first, said sources.

"We plan to move a Cabinet note incorporating all the amendments in the first version of the Food Security Bill and then place it in Parliament for approval during the second half of the four-month budget session," a senior food ministry official had said.