[Reader-list] RTF (Right to Food) Articles - 4
Rakesh Iyer
rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com
Sun Aug 2 12:52:20 IST 2009
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OPINION: FOOD SECURITY
* Food for all? Not through the NFSA. *
The National Food Security Act proposes to lower ration prices, but also
reduce the quantity of grain that is given to each family. Devinder
Sharma suggests
a Zero Hunger programme instead.
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*17 July 2009* - When Atal Bihari Vajpayee for the first time unfurled the
national flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort in New Delhi, he promised to
turn the infamous Kalahandi hunger belt in western Orissa into a food bowl.
If only Vajpayee had made a serious attempt to wipe out hunger from
Kalahandi, and follow it up with a nationwide programme to feed the hungry
millions, the BJP wouldn't have been in a pitiable condition it now finds
itself in.
And when President Pratibha Patil reiterated the government's resolve to
bring in a National Food Security Act in a bid to provide every hungry
family with 25 kg of foodgrains priced at Rs.3 a kilo, I certainly felt
excited. After all, 62 years after Independence, the government finally
makes a promise to feed the hungry nation. For the 320 million who are
officially categorised as hungry, nothing could be more heartening. And for
another 600 million, who are able to spend less than Rs.20 a day, there
appeared to be some hope. And with the new government barely in the saddle,
mandarins in the Food and Agriculture Ministry and in the Planning
Commission have swung into action, working overtime to give shape to the
promise made by Congress in its election manifesto.
But if what I read in the newspapers is any indication, I now have all the
reasons to be worried, rather than excited. If the early signs continue,
there will be little hope for the hungry; instead they will continue to live
and die in hunger.
What pains me is to learn that even the Right to Food campaign, which has
fought several battles to ensure that food reaches the poor, is not thinking
beyond the PDS to address the real causes of hunger. There is no reason for
the civil society to shy away from the onerous task by saying that we have
to only take care of entitlements. I can understand the government trying to
say so, but that a section of the civil society is also trying to behave
like the government is something that does not auger well for the poor and
hungry.
*Modelled on failure*
Home to the world's largest hungry population, India has a record on hunger
that is worse than that of nearly 25 sub-Saharan African countries. India is
ranked 66th among 88 vulnerable countries in the Global Hunger Index
prepared by the International Food Policy Research institute, and none of
its States is categorised under 'low hunger' or 'moderate hunger category'.
And let us not forget, the abysmally low ranking of India in the Global
Hunger Index is despite the PDS. The scheme caters to 65 million
families *below
the poverty line* (BPL) and 115 million other families *above the poverty
line* (APL), and is supposed to act as a safety net for the vulnerable
sections of our society.
If the PDS had been even partially effective, there should have been no
reason for Punjab to be ranked below Gabon, Honduras and Vietnam.
• Starvation persists in
Orissa<http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/jul/pov-starve.htm>
• Hunger affects
attendance<http://www.indiatogether.org/2007/mar/edu-upmdm.htm>
If you consider each family to comprise on average five persons, the PDS
- on paper - meets the food requirement of 900 million people. If this is
true, I see no reason why the country should have the largest population of
hungry in the world. If the PDS had been even partially effective, there
should have been no reason for Punjab - and for that matter Kerala, the best
performing States in terms of hunger - to be ranked below Gabon, Honduras
and Vietnam. Extending the same failed PDS to more families, or introducing
a revamped PDS is therefore unlikely to make any meaningful difference to
the plight of the hungry and malnourished.
But this is precisely what the new National Food Security Act (NFSA)
proposes to do. Modelled along the lines of the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme, the Act does not see beyond the 'rights' of the poor, and
is more or less blind to whether these rights are being protected by
government schemes. The success of the NREGS itself is still debatable; we
all know is mired in corruption and large-scale siphoning-off of funds
intended for the unemployed poor. But that has not stopped the NFSA from
being drawn on more or less on the same pattern.
On the price and quantity fronts too, the proposal is weak. At present, the
government provides 35 kg of food grains, including wheat and rice, to 65.2
million families classified as living *below the poverty line* (BPL). These
subsidised rations are made available at a price of Rs 4.15 per kg for wheat
and Rs 5.65 per kg for rice. For the 24.3 million families classified under
the Antyodya scheme (also part of the BPL category), the price of these
grains is further reduced to Rs.2 for wheat and Rs.3 for rice. Thus, what
the NFSA proposes is to provide the grains at an even lower price than in
the past, but *also in the process reduce the quantity of grain that is
given through the subsidy*.
By reducing the quantum of grains given, the National Food Security Act
would therefore entail less financial burden on the government by an
estimated Rs.5000 crores. And the food requirement would be drastically
reduced from the existing 27 million tonnes to about 20 million tonnes, and
the annual subsidy outgo would also be lowered. It surely is a win-win
situation for the government. But how is this going to make an already
underfed people able to eat more? That goal, it now appears, will remain a
dream.
*Zero Hunger*
Feeding the vulnerable sections, and that too in a sustained manner on
long-term basis, is only possible if the government evolves what I call a
Zero Hunger programme. I suggest a 5-point programme to ensure Zero Hunger:
-
Revive agriculture on the lines of sustainability, by restoring soil
health and the natural resource base by bringing in low-external-input,
sustainable farming practices.
-
Provide farmers with a fixed monthly income, incorporating the minimum
support price. For the poorest of the poor households receiving
micro-finance, ensure that the interest rate is reduced from the existing
18-48 per cent to a maximum of 4 per cent.
-
Disband PDS except for food entitlements for the Antyodya families.
Replace this with Foodgrain Banks at the village level on the lines of the
traditional gola system of food security still existing in Bihar and east
India.
-
Export of foodgrains should be allowed only when the country's total
population is adequately fed.
-
International trade, including Free Trade Agreements, should not be
allowed to play havoc with domestic agriculture and food security.
All of this is possible, provided the political leadership demonstrates a
vision to redesign agriculture, food processing, rural development,
international trade and food security in an integrated manner. *⊕*
*Devinder Sharma* <http://www.indiatogether.org/opinions/dsharma/>
17 Jul 2009
* Devinder Sharma is a food and trade policy analyst. He also chairs the
New Delhi-based Forum for Biotechnology & Food Security. *
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*Comments* (2)
- Posted by Srinivasa Ravuri <chakrawarthy at gmail.com>,
Who pays for Food subsidy ?
Ever since the (re)-introduction of the Rs. 2 kg-(that too slightly or
the so called partially edible rice!) in some states, the price of fine-rice
has shot-up to Rs. 40-a kilo. So who is paying for the subsidy?---not
ceratinly the govt.
- Posted by Nilima Basu <iacrindia at yahoo.com>,
I appreciated atleast 3 recommendations.1)fixed income for farmers2)4%
interest for those BPL,who are receiving micro-finance 3) Export of food
grains only after population is adequately fed.
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