Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | FSA set for pre-poll rollout by Subodh Ghildiyal & Nitin Sethi

FSA set for pre-poll rollout by Subodh Ghildiyal & Nitin Sethi

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Nov 10, 2011   modified Modified on Nov 10, 2011

The National Food Security Act shall be rolled out starting next financial year spread in phases running up to the parliamentary elections, in what could be an attempt to do the loan-waiver trick in 2014. The government has finalized the bill bringing it substantially closer to the National Advisory Council recommendations.

The government has resolved most of the issues that had been in contradiction with the NAC advice and intends to finalize and table the bill in the winter session.

The existing Integrated Child development scheme and the midday meal programme would become entitlements for beneficiaries under the proposed act. The government has also decided to go midway in meeting NAC’s recommendation on provisions under the public distribution system. The Sonia Gandhi-led panel had suggested that the general category (what is today called ‘above poverty line’ beneficiaries) should get 20 kg of grain as compared to the 35 provided to the priority category. The first government draft had instead recommended 3 kg per individual (assuming 5 people per family). The government proposes to up this linking it to procurement and production.

The government intends to make a budgetary provision for the bill in the next financial year preparing for the roll out the flagship scheme UPA is banking upon to provide political dividend in 2014 elections.

The government has not yet been able to settle the debate on the identification of priority beneficiaries. It has moved away from putting an artificial cap based on poverty figures emerging from Planning Commission. Instead it is going to depend upon Socio-Economic Caste Census to draw up the numbers. Besides categories for automatic inclusion and exclusion of individuals in to the below poverty line list, the census uses eight deprived criteria to assign the surveyed in or out of the BPL list. The government is yet to decide whether it will choose people with three or less deprived points as beneficiaries of the FSA. The choice could alter the total number of beneficiaries substantially and impact the subsidy bill considerably. The issue of a grievance redress mechanism also remains unresolved as yet.

With a separate grievance redress bill being prepared it remains unclear if the government would keep a separate provision for a similar mechanism under the food bill as well or not. The NAC had recommended an elaborate and decentralized mechanism within the food security bill but in its first draft, this had been diluted against such advice. The government is likely to keep the provision for pensions, which exists as a shceme at present, more as a directive principle in the act rather than a clear entitlement.


The Times of India, 9 November, 2011, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=CAP/2011/11/09&PageLabel=14&Enti


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close