[Reader-list] RTF (Right to Food) Articles - 2

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear all

In this article, I don't agree with all points and solutions being put up,
but I think still that doesn't mean we shouldn't go through the article. So
here's this one for all.

Regards

Rakesh

Food security: time to change track?
If the government uses the public distribution system (PDS), there is no way
that hunger will go away from this land even in the next 10 years or so
 Subsidy Economics | Ashok Gulati

The government is talking of bringing in a National Food Security Bill,
whereby every family below the poverty line (BPL) will be entitled to 25kg
of grains per month at a rate of Rs3 a kg. This is a bold step towards right
to food for the poor.

The key challenge is not just passing the Bill, but making sure it is
implemented in a manner by which this subsidized food reaches the needy.
Politically as well as economically, it can prove to be a master stroke
abolishing hunger in one go. It can surely catapult the fortunes of the
Congress party, and also raise India’s credibility among nations, if we do
it right.

What are the various options with the government to implement it right? If
the government uses the public distribution system (PDS), there is no way
that hunger will go away from this land even in the next 10 years or so.

The reason is that the existing PDS, with a network of at least 400,000 fair
price shops, suffers from large leakages. The Planning Commission’s study of
2005 shows that roughly 58% of grains issued from the PDS do not reach BPL
families due to problems ranging from targeting errors to corruption all
along the chain.

There is also a problem in defining and identifying a BPL family. While the
Planning Commission puts the number of BPL families at 65.9 million, based
on its 1993-94 poverty line and population of 2000, in reality the total
number of BPL cards issued by states is 107 million. And if the plan panel’s
criterion is updated with the poverty of 2004-05, and population of 2009,
the BPL families will be just 60 million.

Which of these BPL families, 60 million or 66 million or 107 million, will
be covered in the Bill can have huge implications in terms of cost.

And yet, the real poor may remain out of this net. It is well known that the
access of poor people to PDS is much better in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh
and Kerala, but where poverty looms large, such as in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal, the performance of PDS is pathetic. This
is a clear indication that things will not improve if we keep relying on the
existing PDS for reaching out to BPL families under the new Bill.

It is perhaps time to change the implementation track, and do things
differently. But how do we do it? The Wadhwa committee looked into the
operations of PDS and recommended, in its report submitted in 2009, an
end-to-end computerization of PDS operations, from procurement to
distribution of grains.

It also suggested using radio frequency identification devices to track the
movement of grains. This is considered critical to stop large-scale
corruption and diversion. However, the report does not go into the criteria
for identifying the poor, or thinking of some other ways of helping the
poor.

Studies by the International Food Policy Research Institute in several
countries shows that instead of physical handling of grains, conditional
cash transfers to the poor, especially women, are much more cost-effective
ways of helping the poor.

New technologies can be used to issue biometric cards to the poor for their
entitlements through food vouchers. These food vouchers can be used to buy a
number of food items from any grocery shop, who in turn can get these
reimbursed from post offices or banks on a commission basis.

To identify the poor, one can combine high-tech methods with social audits.
The criteria must be simple, and to the extent possible, foolproof. For
example, one can say that all those who have a motorized vehicle, or a
cellphone, or a land line with a minimum bill, or electricity connection
with a minimum bill, or a job in the organized sector, etc., are not BPL.

All such people are registered at one place or another, and they can be
marked as non-BPL families in the master computerized list. For the
remaining families, there could be a social audit through village councils,
with a clear sign on their houses that they are BPL families.

It may take a little time to do it, but it will go a long way in helping the
real needy. Also, if done right, it can keep the budgetary implications of
this Bill within limits of Rs20,000-25,000 crore, assuming the subsidy per
kg of grain is Rs12, and BPL families do not number more than 70 million.

If not, the cost will be enormous, almost double of this amount, and hunger
will still haunt India.

*Ashok Gulati is director in Asia for International Food Policy Research
Institute. *