Food Security Good For Nation’s Nutrition? Key concerns over - TopicsExpress



          

Food Security Good For Nation’s Nutrition? Key concerns over contentious legislation remain as it comes up for debate next week in Parliament Surojit Gupta | TNN Parliament’s monsoon session starting next week is expected to green light the food security ordinance paving the way for implementation of the much-debated law. The need for a Food Security Act was triggered by the urgent need to fi ght malnutrition and hunger. The legislation received a positive response, but the timing of the ordinance and its impact on the economy raised doubts. The opposition questioned the government’s motive saying UPA wants to win votes off the back of the massive scheme. The programme’s scale and implementation challenges also raised serious queries. The key concern is over the delivery machinery — the public distribution system. Critics say it can’t handle such a large programme given its track record and the leakages that have been reported in the past. But recent studies show some improvement in the PDS following state and central efforts. A group of researchers recently evaluated PDS, randomly picking 100 villages across nine states. It points to an “impressive revival”. The researchers have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying “the days when up to half of the PDS grain was diverted to the open market are gone.” Critics, though, insist a marginal improvement isn’t enough to risk a massive programme such as the food security scheme. The other worry is the selection of benefi ciaries. Experts say identifying people deserving the benefi t will remain a challenge and may negate the intended benefi ts. The legislation’s fi scal cost and the procurement of food grains to run the programme have fuelled anxiety. One estimate suggests the measure would cost the exchequer about Rs 2 lakh crore. The government says it has the resources. There’d be no damage to public fi nances. The huge procurement is likely to impact the farm sector, experts say. It might prompt farmers to rely on wheat and rice and discourage them from diversifying into other crops. According to the World Bank, food subsidies unless designed and targeted properly are unlikely to help the poor. It says consumer food subsidies, being used by some countries such as India to respond to volatile food prices, are often counter- productive. According to IMF estimates, just 35% of the amount spent to subsidize food prices reaches the bottom 40% of the population (20% in the case of fuel subsidies), compared with 50–75% accruing to the bottom 40% for cash transfers. THE BILL WHAT WILL THEY GET? 5kg foodgrains per month at 3, 2, 1 per kilo for rice, wheat, coarse grains respectively. Poorest of poor continue to get 35kg per household (Antyodaya Anna Yojna) HOW WILL IT BE DISTRIBUTED? Through PDS, which the Bill promises will be reformed on ICT platform Food security allowance in case of non supply of foodgrains, leveraging ‘Aadhaar’ to identify benefi ciaries Where there’s short supply of food grains, Centre will provide funds to States/UTs for entitled CHECKS & BALANCES? Existing grievance redressal mechanisms to be used. Bill promises penalty for public servant not following rules WHO’LL FOOT THE BILL? Centre. Also supposed to aid states with intra-state transportation costs, handling of foodgrains, dealers’ margin THE FEARS— Will PDS reach the needy? States where poverty is concentrated and need is the most, PDS governance big issue Cash transfers opposed on grounds that poor will spend it elsewhere One viewpoint that if they’re given food, they’ll be better nourished THE FOOD BILL 612.3lakh tonnes Estmtd annual foodgrain requirement 1.3trillion Estmtd food subsidy for Bill at 2013-14 costs 810m people Two out of three Indians will get 5kg of subsidized grain every month Govt’s food subsidy burden will go up 1.2% of GDP annually from 0.8% annually Bill provides adequate and cheap foodgrain In case of non-supply of foodgrain, food security allowance will be given Estimated food subsidy for 2013-14 costs is about 1,24,724 crore ROLLOUT Centre will fund states/UTs in case of short supply from Central pool If they can’t supply grain or meals, state/UT govts will have to give food security allowance Centre to bear cost of intra-state transportation, handling of grain and FPS dealers’ margin Will operate through targeted PDS FEARS Inflation and burden on economy High possibility of graft Greater subsidy means less allocation for other projects If agriculture fails, food grain will have to be imported Over 50% beneficiaries farmers who’d rather get tech-help 40% of food supplied through PDS misused or rots
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 02:58:01 +0000

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