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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Govt to adopt NAC food security target by Rajeev Deshpande

Govt to adopt NAC food security target by Rajeev Deshpande

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published Published on Jul 4, 2011   modified Modified on Jul 4, 2011

-The Times of India

 

The government is set to accept the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council's recommendation to cover 75% rural and 50% urban population under a food security law, but wants to keep the percentages outside the language of the Act itself.

UPA-2 is inclined to set the percentage of population covered in a notification or schedule accompanying the Act so that it can be revised by executive order in future although there seems to be no dispute on the urban-rural split that works out to 67% of the nation's population.

The Act is likely to state that the government will provide subsidized foodgrains in quantities and prices that it will periodically define for targeted beneficiaries. By keeping the rates and quantum out of the Act, the government will not have to return to Parliament every time a change is considered.

While there is a convergence on beneficiaries, a recent review by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh highlighted concerns over projected procurement to provide for the food security entitlements that will be legally binding on the Centre with the initial requirement likely to be 67 million tonnes.

The PM wants the food ministry to work out the arithmetic of procurement more closely with a suggestion being aired that the foodgrains' requirement for mid-day meals and the integrated child development scheme (ICDS) can be in the form of cash grants to states. This will reduce procurement and attendant problems of storage and transport.

The government calculates that the current 53 million tonnes needed for the public distribution system (PDS) will go up to 72 million tonnes once the food security programme fully rolls out by 2014. If it can reduce the 7 million tonnes of foodgrain it needs for mid-day meals and ICDS, it can lessen fears of the market being hit by high procurement.

At present, the Centre procures a little less than 30% of total production of wheat and rice but this can go up to 50% with buffer stock requirements pegging the foodgrains required to be procured at about 80 million tonnes. This demand can put immense pressure on retail prices in the open market.

By asking states to procure foodgrains for mid-day meals for school children, the Centre hopes to stimulate local markets besides reducing the load on a leaky PDS. The Centre is hoping to link strong reform of PDS through initiatives like cash transfers to beneficiaries and cashless cards. Options like using debit cards valid at more than one outlet can help reduce inefficient and corrupt practices.

While the government is working out its approach to the food security law before Parliament meets in August, the bill is far from ready. The provocation for the meeting convened by the PM, however, was the Supreme Court asking the government to distribute 50 lakh tonnes of foodgrains to the poor.

The Times of India, 4 July, 2011, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Govt-to-adopt-NAC-food-security-target/articleshow/9092602.cms


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