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NEWS ALERTS | Govt. targets food security of the poorest, most vulnerable
Govt. targets food security of the poorest, most vulnerable

Govt. targets food security of the poorest, most vulnerable

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published Published on Jun 30, 2015   modified Modified on Jun 30, 2015

Is the Government stepping back from its responsibility under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) by giving technical reasons? Civil society organizations, which struggled to enact the Right to Food legislation, doubt that this may be the case.

It has been alleged recently by several civil society activists that the Government is rolling back the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), which is meant for food security of the extremely poor households, through the Public Distribution System Control Order, issued in March this year.

The PDS Control Order says that "when an Antyodaya household becomes ineligible on account of migration outside the state, improvement in social or economic status, death etc., no new Antyodaya household shall be identified in that state and the total number of Antyodaya households shall be reduced to that extent".

From this order, noted development economist Prof. Jean Drèze expects that no new AAY card will be issued to anyone in the future, and the AAY coverage will be brought down to zero in due course of time.

The PDS Control Order was issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on 20 March, 2015 so as to reduce the number of such families who come under the ambit of AAY. Social activists believe that this is just an excuse to put an end to the scheme.

The 61st round of National Sample Survey had found that the AAY cardholders formed less than 3 percent of rural households and less than 1 percent of urban households during 2004-05. However, the NSS 68th round data shows that 5 percent rural households and 2 percent urban households had AAY cards in 2011-12.

It is worth noting that Section 3(1) of the NFSA says that each household, which is entitled to the AAY shall be provided 35 kgs of foodgrains every month. Section 30 of the Right to Food legislation says that the "Central Government and the state Governments shall, while implementing the provisions of this Act and the schemes for meeting specified entitlements, give special focus to the needs of the vulnerable groups especially in remote areas and other areas which are difficult to access, hilly and tribal areas for ensuring their food security".
 
In its press release, the Right to Food Campaign mentions that under the NFSA, every individual from a priority household is entitled to receive 5 kgs of foodgrains per month. If an extremely poor household has less than 7 members, then under the AAY, per head foodgrain allocation comes around more than 5 kgs (given the fact that the household receives 35kgs per month). If that household somehow loses the AAY eligibility, then it will lead to fall in per head foodgrain allocation as compared to the earlier situation. In fact, the transition from household to per capita entitlements (under the NFSA) is a major loss for small households, for example, for widows and elderly persons who live alone or with their spouse.

The AAY was introduced on 25 December, 2000 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA government to address the problem of hunger amongst the most vulnerable.

As per the press release from Right to Food Campaign, the clause in the new PDS Control Order violates the Supreme Court’s directives related to the AAY in the PUCL case 196/2001, being heard by the Supreme Court since 2001. In its order dated 02.05.2003, the Supreme Court clearly mentioned that the following sections of the population should be covered under the AAY i.e.:

(1) Aged, infirm, disabled, destitute men and women, pregnant and locating women, destitute women;
(2) widows and other single women with no regular support;
(3) old persons (aged 60 or above) with no regular support and no assured means of subsistence;
(4) households with a disabled adult and assured means of subsistence;
(5) households where due to old age, lack of physical or mental fitness, social customs, need to care for a disabled, or other reasons, no adult member is available to engage in gainful employment outside the house; and
(6) primitive tribes. (CWP 196/2001).

In subsequent orders, the Supreme Court recognised the AAY as a scheme for the poorest of the poor and pressed for its proper implementation (20.4.2004 and 17.11.2004).

As per the recently released NSS 68th Round report entitled: Public Distribution System and Other Sources of Household Consumption, 2011-12:

• Among the different household types in rural India, the proportion possessing Antyodaya was highest (7 percent) for casual labour in agriculture & non-agriculture households. For the ‘regular wage-salary earning’ category, the incidence was as low as 3 percent.

• In rural India, Antyodaya cards were possessed by 8 percent of SC households, 7 percent of ST households and 3 percent of households of the ‘Others’ category.

• In urban India, on the other hand, possession of an Antyodaya card was rare for all the social groups: 3 percent for SC & ST, 2 percent for OBC and 1 percent for ‘Others’.

• At the national level, incidence of possession of Antyodaya was seen to fall with increase in size of land possessed.

• In rural areas, the percentage of households possessing Antyodaya cards exceeded 5 percent in nine out of seventeen major states. In urban India, on the other hand, the percentage possessing Antyodaya cards was low for all the major States, the highest being only 4 percent (Chhattisgarh).
 
 
References

National Food Security Act Violated - Press release by Right to Food Campaign, 18 June, 2015 

National Food Security Act 2013, please click here to access

NSS Report no. 565: Public Distribution System and Other Sources of Household Consumption 2011-12, NSS 68th Round, please click here to access
 
Public Distribution System (PDS) and Other Sources of Household Consumption, 2004-05, NSS 61st Round, (July 2004 - June 2005), Volume I, Please click here to access
 
Cutting the Food Act to the bone -Biraj Patnaik, The Hindu, 24 June, 2015 
 
No Mercy For the Poor -Jean Drèze, The Wire, 18 June, 2015
 
Modi government is killing Vajpayee's food security scheme -Supriya Sharma, Scroll.in, 17 June, 2015, please click here to access 
 
Image Courtesy: Himanshu Joshi


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