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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | States should pay cash if they fail to provide grain: Draft Food Bill by Binoy Prabhakar

States should pay cash if they fail to provide grain: Draft Food Bill by Binoy Prabhakar

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published Published on May 30, 2011   modified Modified on May 30, 2011
The draft Food Security Bill makes it compulsory for state governments to pay a food security allowance to targeted sections in case of failure to supply foodgrain through a sweeping welfare scheme targeted at nearly three-fourths of the population.

The amount will be decided by the central government. The draft bill also presses for a radical overhaul of the food distribution system by giving incentives to independent agencies that procure foodgrain, according to a the draft, viewed by ET.

The bill calls for improved "modern and scientific" storage and doorstep delivery of grain to targeted public distribution system outlets.

The National Food Security Act 2011 is the most expansive - politicians have called it showpiece-legislation of the UPA government in its second term in office. It covers all India, except Jammu and Kashmir. The priority households, the main beneficiaries of this bill, will be selected from the poorest 46% in rural areas and 26% in urban areas. Another 29% and 22% of the population from rural and urban areas, respectively will be treated as general category.

The bill also guarantees 7 kgs of grain to every person belonging to priority households and 3 kgs to individuals from general households every month at subsidised prices.

The draft has cast the so-called National Food Security Bill 2011 into the mother of all welfare schemes by providing free food to children and pregnant women and encompassing swathes of people such as the destitute, the homeless and migrant workers, as ET had reported on Sunday. The draft bill also envisions a radical change in welfare schemes by making women of 18 years and above as head of selected households that can access rice, wheat and nutri-cereals with ration cards.

the draft bill is that it pushes for the creation of an advisory body called the National Food Security Commission to help the central government implement the landmark welfare scheme.

The commission will advise the central government on "synergising existing schemes and framing news ones for entitlements". It will also recommend steps for effective implementation of schemes through greater government oversight by dramatically overhauling the nation's food distribution system, says the draft.

Under the food commission's watch, guidelines will be issued for the training, capacity building and performance management of people involved in the implementation of welfare schemes, says the draft. The commission will also prepare annual reports on implementation of the Act.

The commission will be headquartered in Delhi and comprise a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and five other members, provided that there at least two women and at least one person each from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The centre will pay the salaries of the commission's bosses, support staff and administrative expenses, says the draft.

The emphasis on women and 'vulnerable' groups is a common thread running through the draft bill, which largely follows a script laid out by the National Advisory Council (NAC) led by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. For example, the draft bill's guidelines to identify the so-called priority and general households sharply resemble an NAC explanatory note on the bill.

The draft bill says that the centre must periodically prescribe guidelines to identify households selected for the food schemes, including exclusion criteria. It also says these households must be reviewed and updated through periodic surveys, which happens to be another key NAC recommendation to the food ministry, which has prepared the draft and is tasked with the Act's implementation. The draft bill also fixes responsibilities on the central and state governments.

The centre must allocate "required quantity" of foodgrain to state governments under targeted PDS from a central pool of stocks. This allocation must be revised annually based on actual or estimated population counts. And in case of short supply of foodgrain, the centre must give states funds equivalent to the deficit at prices it fixes, says the draft. States must implement and monitor schemes to ensure "actual delivery and supply of grain to entitled persons". States are to also establish food security commissions under the ambit of the national advisory body, says the draft. State governments are to support breastfeeding for six months from birth through "counselling and related assistance".

The draft bill is silent on the subsidised prices at which food will be distributed and the quantum of foodgrain that has to be procured for distribution in a year. The two topics have been a source of disquiet between the the NAC and the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Committee .

The draft bill has left these subjects to the decision of the centre. The EAC, headed by C Rangarajan, had differed with the NAC on the subsidy blowup the bill could spawn, saying the government will struggle to contain fiscal deficit. The NAC's estimates the final subsidy burden at Rs 1,05,051 crore while EAC by increasing the price at which wheat will be sold to the general category had calculated it at Rs 82,805 crore.

But with its sprawling coverage of beneficiaries, allowances, administrative and implementation costs, the bill is likely to overshoot the subsidy estimates of the two advisory bodies. The EAC was also particularly concerned with the bill's provisions over non-availability of foodgrain.

To address this issue, the draft has laid out provisions to revitalise agriculture by ensuring "remunerative prices, credit, irrigation, crop insurance etc". It also calls for prohibition of "unwarranted diversion of land and water from food production".Transactions at all levels must be recorded to prevent diversion and technology tools must be applied to ensure transparency.

The draft also calls for leveraging of Aadhar, the government's ambitious unique identity programme, for "reaching the intended beneficiaries".

The Economic Times, 30 May, 2011, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/states-should-pay-cash-if-they-fail-to-provide-grain-draft-food-bill/articleshow/8641415.cms


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