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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Getting food security right by T Nanda Kumar
The first issue in food security is India’s Hunger index. The Global Hunger Index released by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) places India 67th in rankings with a score of 24.1, far below China and below Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal. According to FAO, about 25% of world’s undernourished live in India.

The proposed Food Security Act is seen as the key instrument of intervention to remedy this situation. The Global Hunger Index of IFPRI is calculated as an average of (1) proportion of the population that is undernourished (in %), (2) prevalence of underweight in children under five (in %) and (3) proportion of children dying before the age of five (in %). For India, the respective numbers are 22, 43.5 and 6.9. Some of these assumptions can be questioned and there are strong arguments against the methodology as well. Let us leave these for the time being.

The short point is that the proportion and the number of undernourished people in India are unacceptably high. It is also well accepted that progress needs to be made on all three counts whatever be their comparative weights in the equation. The most important, of course, has to be undernourishment. Given the fact that the government has given a commitment to introduce a Food Security Bill (FSB) in Parliament, thereby giving the citizens an enforceable right to food, what are the key issues to be addressed? A ‘right’ to citizens is an ‘obligation’ for the government.

The government will have to ensure that people get safe and nutritious food, and preferably food of their choice, at all times. Ensuring the overall availability of food has remained the responsibility of the government (in the perception of state governments , that of the Union government) even without the FSB.

Given the progress made in agricultural production over the past few decades and the continuing levels of hunger and malnutrition, economic access to food has become the critical issue and thereby exists the strong case for subsidised food for poor people. The debate so far, at least in the mainstream media, has been about the quantum, extent and the subsidy implications. These are, clearly, important issues that need to be debated.

But should the debate stop here? It is now well established that ‘the delivery deficit’ is the main problem plaguing the public distribution system (PDS). Be it errors of inclusion or exclusion, theft or diversion, or poor quality, consistent efforts to make any significant change in the performance of PDS have failed to make a dent. It is almost axiomatic that the proposed legislation should address the ‘delivery deficit’ and place specific responsibilities on the administrative machinery, be it panchayat, district or state. How is this to be done? A strong technology-based intervention and a well defined monitoring system will have to be put in place as part of the Act itself.

For example, a biometric identification should form an integral part of the distribution system. As has been pointed out by many experts , this will eliminate most of the proxies providing a window of self selection. In municipal areas (with the exception of food deficit areas) a food coupon/conditional cash transfer (also based on bio-metric identification ) may be the best option.

Along with technology, adequate decentralisation will have to take place. Another important concern is the capability for procuring enough grains for distribution. In case physical delivery of grains is insisted upon for eligible categories, all states (with a few exceptions) will have to make a clear commitment to procure a certain minimum level of foodgrains. Failure to do so will place the responsibility at the doorstep of the Union government and create problems of distortion in the market.

Also, the states should agree to procure and distribute millets in their PDS. Millets should form a compulsory part of the entitlement for all citizens covered under the scheme. Given the problems relating to the shelf life of millets, these will have to be procured and distributed locally. This brings us to the issue of decentralised procurement. The present structure of decentralised procurement has to undergo a major transformation.

It is probably the right time to move towards a scheme of “purchase for progress” (P4P) articulated by the World Food Programme . A decentralised purchase and distribution programme at the district level (if possible at the tehsil/block level) will not only enthuse the farmers of the region, but may also take care of the possible adverse impact on agriculture.

However, in such a programme, strong monitoring systems have to be put in place to prevent “recycling”. While an enforceable right is “power” in the hands of the people, the objective of the government should, rightly, be to set up efficient mechanisms to deliver on the promises without fail. Litigation in this case is best avoided. If this is to happen, effective delivery and convergence of programmes at the operational level have to be the top priority.

The implementation module will have to provide for effective choices to implementing agencies on the mode of delivery and management of the programme. A strong coordinating and monitoring system, preferably on the Brazilian model, will help. The outcome, viz., a better health index should logically be the parameter for evaluation. But the vexed question remains : what can the government of India do if leakages continue unabated even after many evaluation reports and exhortations, and the health index does not show any sign of improvement?

(T Nanda Kumar is Former Union Secretary, Food & Agriculture)