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NAC sticks to its stand, finalises draft food security bill by Nitin Sethi

The Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council stood its ground on Wednesday and gave the go-ahead to an expansive Food Security Bill. Not relenting to the position the Prime Minister's Office and the Planning Commission had taken against a bill that could lead to a surge in subsidy, the NAC finalized the draft along the lines of the framework it had made public earlier.

The government was expected to table its own version of the bill before the cabinet prior to the NAC meeting, but in indications that it didn't want to be seen publicly aligned against the council, deferred the tabling till the council had finalized its version.

The NAC will communicate its bill, which has been made in consultations with additional solicitor general Indira Jaising, to the government in a couple of days.

With the Ramdev episode in mind, the NAC is expected not to pursue the case with the government beyond conveying the draft bill, leaving it to UPA to deal with the final law-making process.

The NAC draft, as it stands now, requires the government to cover 90% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population in its final phase – just as the council had recommended before the PMO's counterviews. After the complete roll out, the NAC expects the requirement of food to rise to 63.59 million tonnes annually needing a total subsidy of nearly Rs 80,000 crore, up from the subsidy this year of Rs 56,000 crore.

It has worked the bill on the basis that about 46% of the population would fall under the priority category – a new name for BPL category – that will have the right to 7 kg per person (equal to 35 kg per family) with rice at Rs 3 a kg, wheat at Rs 2 a kg and millets at Re 1 a kg.

As per the NAC bill, the above poverty line category – under its new avtar of 'general category' – will be entitled to 20 kg of food grain at half the minimum support price given to farmers for procurement. Forty-four percent of rural population and 22% of the urban population is expected to fall under the general category.

The NAC bill continues to push for not just a reformed public distribution system but also mandatory mid-day meal scheme and nutritional plans under ICDS. This would entail about eight million tonnes of grains which is included in the total calculation of 63.59 million tonnes.

The Rangarajan Committee set up by the PM, in contrast to the NAC bill, had recommended a much-pared version, which did not even talk of other food and nutrition schemes and curtailed the number of beneficiaries substantially.

The food ministry is now expected to prepare its own version, which, according to indications, will be between the conservative approach of the Planning Commission and PMO and the wide-ambit version arising from the Sonia Gandhi-led NAC.