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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Food security bill to face cost checks by Radhika Ramaseshan


Before cheap food for all, a reality check on the bill.

The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council will draft the food security law only after talking to the various ministries to get a “realistic” idea of the cost to the government.

A fully universal food law already seems unlikely after the government and the Planning Commission questioned how feasible such a move would be in the current fiscal and agricultural situations.

Today’s council meeting agreed to “go back to the drawing board and get on with further calculations because we do not want to fool around with numbers”, a member said.

In its earlier avatar in UPA I, the council had successfully pushed through the rural job scheme and the RTI Act which, at least partially, ran counter to the natural inclinations of the government and the plan panel.

That the council has been asked to consult the bureaucracy this time before it drafts the bill indicates that Sonia is not willing to push the Manmohan Singh government too far on food security, a source said. “She appreciates the need to keep subsidy costs compatible with the need for fiscal consolidation,” the source said.

While the government wants to pledge 25kg of food grain for every family, the council wants to raise the amount to 35kg. The council has also to resolve the longstanding issue of dual pricing: Rs 3 a kg for a yet-to-be-fixed number of the poor, and a price close to the minimum support price for the rest.

A council member said the day’s discussions came down to two options. “Some felt that the APL-BPL (above poverty line-below poverty line) distinction should be maintained and the categories identified according to the criteria laid down by the Suresh Tendulkar committee,” the member said.

“This means 42 per cent of the rural poor should get 35kg of food grain at Rs 3 a kg and the remaining 58 per cent should get 25kg at a higher rate so you cut down on subsidies.”

The other option is to bring 80 per cent of the rural poor under the 35kg-at-Rs 3 scheme, leaving out the 20 per cent landlords. The backers of this option feel that the APL-BPL distinction collapses during, say, floods or droughts.

A source said Sonia wanted the bill passed in the winter session so the programme could start in April 2011 in the 150 poorest districts.