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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Food draft toes NAC line by Radhika Ramaseshan

Food draft toes NAC line by Radhika Ramaseshan

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published Published on Jul 12, 2011   modified Modified on Jul 12, 2011
A group of ministers has approved a draft food bill, considered the successor to the blockbuster rural jobs scheme, after incorporating most suggestions made by a panel headed by Sonia Gandhi, a minister said today.

The bill, which will give the poor the right to subsidised foodgrain entitlements, has accepted “most” suggestions of the National Advisory Council (NAC) and deviations, if any, are “minor”, said K.V. Thomas, the minister of state holding independent charge of food, consumer affairs and public distribution.

Two key recommendations of the NAC — coverage of above poverty line households and lifelong applicability — that did not find favour with the government appear to have found space in the draft.

The group of ministers, headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, will have the bill vetted by the law ministry and then ratified by the cabinet to be tabled in the monsoon session.

If the final version retains most of the NAC recommendations, it will be a big victory for the panel that was trying to reoccupy the space recently filled by civil society groups.

The food security bill is flagged as UPA-II’s flagship programme just as the national rural employment guarantee scheme was UPA-I’s.

However, government sources said their immediate concerns were picking up the tab for the scheme which, if implemented, would entail a grain requirement of at least 70 million tonnes. They said the quantum of offtake had never exceeded 50 million tonnes.

The sources said not only would this push up the subsidy bill (the grain scheme is expected to cost Rs 1 lakh crore), it would mean that infrastructure, such as silos, would have to be put in place simultaneously.

Since food is on the concurrent list, states will have to be taken on board. BJP sources said given the “pro-aam aadmi” character of the bill, their governments were expected to co-operate.

The NAC’s version said state governments would have to provide “priority households” (below poverty line) in rural and urban areas a minimum of 7kg of foodgrain per person per month at not more than Rs 3 a kg for rice, Rs 2 a kg for wheat and Rs 1 a kg for millet at 2011 rates. It said these prices should not be increased for at least 10 years.

The quantum for the “general households” (above poverty line) in rural and urban areas would be 4kg per person per month at a price that would not exceed 50 per cent of the minimum support price for paddy, wheat and millets.

The NAC also suggested adopting a lifecycle approach to ensure that every person was adequately fed from birth to his sunset years.

The Telegraph, 12 July, 2011, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110712/jsp/frontpage/story_14229002.jsp


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