Delivering Food Security

By

Randeep Wadehra

Consider some facts. More than one third of India’s population lives below the poverty line (about 42% according to the World Bank; between 27% and 29%, according the Government of India). Of course, there is no unanimity on these figures as reports by different organizations and commissions/committees show. For instance, the Tendulkar Committee Report had estimated that 37% of India’s population lives below the poverty line; the Arjun Sengupta Report had stated that 77% of Indians live on less than Rs. 20/- per day while the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative came up with the 53.7% figure. Nonetheless, it is quite clear that poverty in India is rampant and acute. Most of the poor are unable to have two square meals a day, since access to food, let alone quality food, is a pipedream for a significant chunk of India’s population.

The situation becomes bleaker when we consider that as much as 21 million tons of wheat alone goes waste in India due to poor storage facilities. It becomes still grimmer if one takes into account other food grains, too. Further, 40% of fruits and vegetables perish due to poor storage and distribution infrastructure. Approximately 3000 children die due to malnutrition every day. One can go on adding dark strokes to this depressing picture, but the point is quite clear. There is an urgent need to ensure that every single Indian gets requisite minimum nutrition in order to stay healthy and become a productive member of the society; hence, the need for institutionalizing food security. 

Therefore, while setting the agenda for the second edition of UPA the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 12 June, 2009, which enclosed a draft copy of the Right to Food (Guarantee of Safety and Security) Act (also known as National Food Security Act – NFSA). Hopefully, this Act will become law soon enough. This proposed Act intends to ensure food security to the poor and vulnerable sections of the country, as it proposes to make freedom from hunger and malnutrition a fundamental right. It will “provide for and assert the physical, economic and social right of all citizens to have access to safe and nutritious food, consistent with an adequate diet necessary to lead an active and healthy life with dignity…”

The intended beneficiary households will include those headed by single women, adults suffering from leprosy, HIV or mental illness, bonded labor, destitute persons dependent on alms for survival for 20 days a month, vulnerable landless agricultural workers or self-employed artisans, elders living alone or with dependents, rag pickers, construction workers, street vendors, cycle rickshaw drivers and domestic workers and such other needy sections of the society. In order to identify these beneficiaries, and update the available data, a nationwide survey would be conducted every five years. They would be provided with appropriate identity cards and other documents. According to various media reports the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food, which examined the Draft Food Security Bill, has argued for mandatory coverage of 67% of the population based on multiple criteria. However, the draft bill figure is about 64% - comprising 75% of the rural population and 60% of the urban population.

The Act also envisages the issuing of special ID cards to all households affected by natural disasters and communal riots where entitlements available under NREGA employment, pension and supplementary nutrition under ICDS would be doubled for one year. There are also provisions for admission in government schools to all school-age children of identified families; doubling of the quota of food for children below six years, mothers and adolescent girls; doubling of the quota of maternity entitlements to all pregnant and lactating mothers in these households; and coverage to the elderly, widows and disabilities pension at the maximum scale. This is a huge task indeed, considering that 75% of the poor are in rural areas, most of them are daily wagers, self-employed householders and landless laborers. This is where illiteracy and poor governance are most apparent.

However, there are reports that the final version of the Bill might cover far smaller portion of the poor, since the emphasis is to cover “the really needy” – a phrase that might exclude a significant number of even those who are living below the poverty line.

Even as attempts to identify the deserving are reaching final stages, there are worries about the delivery aspect. Would Direct Transfer of Benefits, or cash subsidies, into the bank accounts of the targeted population be sufficient? What about actual access to various items of food in different parts of the country? Is the present structure of PDS capable of facilitating such access?

Needless to say, that both the Public Distribution System as well as general governance will have to be firmed up in order to ensure proper and fair implementation of the said Act. However, experience tells us that it is not possible to trust the present structure. Perhaps there is a need for the government to explore such avenues as have not really been given proper trial, yet.

An exclusive channel, independent of the Food Corporation of India, for storing and distribution of food grains dedicated to the targeted population can be set up. This should be run by the intended beneficiaries on cooperative lines or on no-profit-no-loss basis. This will need some working out since the tendency of vested groups among politicians and bureaucracy to subvert or usurp such structures can manifest itself any time. Proper checks ought to be in place to make the system immune to any such exploitation. Similarly, quality checks of the food grains should be regular and strict. There should be sufficient guarantees – legal as well as administrative – to ensure timely and sufficient supplies. A robust two way communication system for reporting any misdemeanor/pilferage or any other related crime should be part and parcel of local governance systems and structures throughout the country.

Monitoring of the procurement and distribution processes, computerization of all relevant records and prompt redress of grievances ought to be the hallmark of this Act.

Published in The Financial World dated 16 March, 2013