FOOD SECURITY BILL :

Revolutionising Indian Economy & Politics

 FOOD SECURITY BILL

WHAT IS IT ??
According to NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY BOARD,

An Act to ensure public provisioning of food and related measures to enable

assured economic and social access to adequate food, for all persons in the
country, at all times, in pursuance of their fundamental right to live with dignity

The United Nations defines food security as "all people at all times having both
physical and economic access to the basic food they need

EXTENT :-
It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir:
Provided that the Central Government, may with the consent of the State of
Jammu and Kashmir, extend the Act to the State
HISTORY AND MAJOR FEATURES
achievement post independence
Today INDIA is self sufficient in is because of
food grain production, and to a GREEN REVOLUTION
large extent, has been able to
assure food security to millions of
Indians. This phenomenal
Is Food Security just a concept or is it achievable?

Of course it is attainable.

There are 3 main issues : -

1. Availability of food in the market

2. Access to food
3. Absorption of food in the body
What should be the approach to ensure food for all ?

Two approaches on our view can be put to effect.

1. Conception to Cremation Lifecycle approach
2. Women be declared as head of households for entitlement under PDS
and Food Security Act

Fragmentation of Food Security Bill

• Right to food security

• NFSB as proposed by NAC
• Minimum support price and food subsidy
• PDS
• National Food Commission
• Duties of central , state and local govt.
 RIGHT TO FOOD SECURITY
 Right to access of food security
 Life-Cycle Approach
 Entitlements of Pregnant and Nursing Women
 Entitlements of children at the age group of 0 - 6 years
 Midday meal to Children
 No denial to any child
 Prevention and Treatment of Child Malnutrition

ENTITLEMENTS TO SPECIAL GROUPS :-

1. Entitlement of Destitute persons

2. Entitlement of Homeless Persons
3. Entitlements of Migrants
4. Emergency and Disaster Affected Persons
 NATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH SURVEY 2010-11

 22 per cent of its population undernourished

 40.4 per cent of children under the age of three are underweight.
 33 per cent of women in the age group of 15-49 have a body mass index
below normal
 78.9 per cent of children in the age group of 6-35 months are anaemic.
 NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY BILL
(Proposed by NAC)
 Categorization of population into priority and general households

The priority households

Rural areas (46%) Urban areas (28%) Monthly Entitlement-7kg/person
Item: Rice Wheat Millets
Subsidized Price: Rs 3/kg Rs 2/kg Rs 1/kg

The general households

Phase 1: Rural areas(39%) Urban areas(12%) Monthly Entitlement-4kg/person
Final Phase: Rural areas(44%) Urban areas(22%) Monthly Entitlement-4kg/person
Subsidized Price : Not exceeding 50% of current Minimum Support Price
[ Until The XII five year plan ]

Legal entitlement to subsidized food grains to be extended to at least 75% of the

country’s population - 90% in Rural areas and 50% in urban areas.

Legal entitlements for child and maternal nutrition and other vulnerable groups.

Reform of the Public Distribution System

Food grain requirement Vs Current
Production & Procurement
 1. Estimates of Food grains Required for Implementing the NFSB
2. Food grain Production and Procurement – Trends and Projections
 SUBSIDY IMPLICATIONS
The total subsidy outgo is expected to be higher than the projections by NAC on account of a
number of factors:-

According to the NAC projections the total subsidy will work out to Rs 71,837 crores in the first phase and
Rs79,931 crores in the final phase (Table 3). However this figure needs to be revised upwards if we change
the population figures to October 2011 and 2013 projections for the two phases and assume 100 per cent
offtake. The subsidy then increases to Rs 85,584 crores and Rs 92,060 crores respectively (Scenario 3 of
Table 3).
Secondly, with the current procurement and storage capacity of a little above 42.5 million tonnes,
providing 68.76 million tonnes of food grain in the first phase and 73.98 million tonnes in the final phase
implies significant scaling up of the procurement, warehousing and supply chain operations. This
involves large financial outgo which has not been quantified as yet.
Thirdly, since the promised entitlements are legally enforceable we will need to either scale up the
procurement by large increases in the MSP or imports. Both these options imply a large fiscal burden
which are difficult to quantify.
Fourthly, this does not include the subsidy on supplying grain to the non entitled households at MSP
based prices which are lower than the economic cost of procurement, storage and carrying this grain.
Moreover there are other components like the cost of carrying the buffer stock and the increase in the
economic cost over time, all of which will inflate the subsidy outgo.
 IDENTIFICATION OF BENIFICIARIES
According to Ministry of Rural Development(MoRD) :-
 The states will not conduct the survey.
 The socio-economic survey will be conducted by the RGI and Census Commissioner.
Advantages

 Independent Experties
 Clubbing Of Socio-economic census and Cast census

Disadvantages

 Cause delay in the caste census which has a simple questionnaire as opposed to the elaborate
and complicated questionnaires for the other two surveys.
 Caste enumeration is individual based while the other two are individual, household and
enterprise based.
 Caste enumerator will only visit household while the economic census will also have to visit
non residential buildings also.
 BPL census will attract interest groups which may impact the integrity of the census and
caste enumeration.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF EXPERT COMMITTEE
The Expert Committee recommendations on the four primary issues :
 food grain entitlement
 subsidy
 PDS reform
 identification of beneficiaries
1.Foodgrain Entitlement and Subsidy Implications

 Disadvantage of a larger procurement : distorting prices in the open market which are likely to hit the
vulnerable sections who purchase almost 25-30 per cent of their consumption requirement from the
open market.
 Use imports as a permanent strategy : the market expectations regarding India’s huge demand will
lead to international prices ratcheting upwards, rendering this a high cost option which will be
unsustainable in the long run due to the heavy fiscal burden. 

 Option-1: To accept the NAC recommendations of 7kg per capita entitlement to the ‘priority’
households and restrict the per capita grain entitlement to 2kgs for the ‘general’ households.
Moreover this monthly entitlement of 10 kg for the general households may be considered less than
adequate especially for poor households at the margin. Covering the general households under a
mandated regime will be feasible only if the entitlement of the priority is less than 7kg per person.
 Option-2: To restrict the assured delivery of food grains at Rs 2 per Kg for wheat and Rs 3
per kg for rice, to the really needy households and cover the rest through an executive
order with a varying quantum depending on the availability of food grains.

According to the Expert Committee :

Entitled population = the percentage of population below the official poverty line
+ 10 per cent of the BPL population.
Tendulkar poverty line:- Entitled population : 46% rural and 28% urban population.
This captures not only the poor but also some at the margin, which is desirable given
the objectives of the NFSB.

2.Subsidy Outgo
In the case of Option 2 recommended by the Expert Committee: for phase 1-
 Subsidy outgo- Rs68,539 crores
 Total subsidy outgo- Rs83,000 crores.

3.Foodgrain Production and Procurement

Year Per capita availability
Rice (gms/day) Wheat (gms/day)
2000 203.7 160
2009 188.4 154.7
 A Bill that can't deliver food security
The Food Security Bill transfers the risk of overproduction to farmers, and
of inflation to consumers.

NON-RELIABLE:
The Food Security Bill ticks off all the boxes that should matter on the
issue of providing adequate food to anyone who needs it . There are
provisions for the supply of food to the poor, prices at which they should be
supplied, meals for the starving, the extension of procurement, and
investment for food production.

NO ATTENTION TO MACROECONOMIC CONTEXT:

But in the process of covering all the relevant elements, little attention
has been paid to the macroeconomic dynamics of this exercise. And when
the Bill is placed in its macroeconomic context, it is difficult to miss the
damage the Bill will actually do to food security.
 MACROECONOMIC CONTEXT
 FOOD SUBSIDY SOARED: with the unsold stocks feeding no one but rats. The system basically
consists of the government procuring foodgrains from the farmers at predetermined remunerative
prices, and selling it in fair price shops after providing a specific subsidy. This system worked quite well
when it could sell most of what was procured. Once the offtake from the PDS declined, however, the
government was left with huge unsold stocks. Since it had already paid for these stocks, the   food
subsidy soared.

 INITIATIVES TAKEN BY GOVT: The four main initiatives seen in the section of the Bill on
the revitalisation of agriculture :
 securing the interests of small and marginal farmers
 increasing investment in agriculture
 remunerative prices
 prohibiting unwarranted diversion of land and water from food production

 NO ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS RAISED: There are a number of specific questions each
of these provisions raise, including defining an ‘unwarranted diversion', and the methods of
preventing such a diversion. But ignoring such issues for the moment, all these measures are
designed to increase production and procurement. If the offtake from the PDS remains the same,
it will only leave the government with even larger amounts of unsold stocks.
 MINIMUM SUPPORT PRICE

TEMPORARY INITIATIVES BY GOVT: Supporters of the Bill that was
introduced in the Lok Sabha argued that there are number of initiatives that
would actually increase the offtake from the PDS; the lower prices of foodgrains,
the creation of community kitchens & initiatives against starvation But once the
hungry are fed, the offtake from the PDS will necessarily taper off.


DOESN’T GUARANTEE PROCUREMENT: The FSB doesn’t guarantee
procurement. Indeed, it only promises to procure at Minimum Support Prices.
The farmers would then be left in the lurch.
They would have produced food grains based on the remunerative prices that were
promised, but would now be left holding unsold stocks.
They would immediately face a crash in market prices & their unwillingness to
grow the same crop would then result in a shortage and a rapid increase in prices.
Foodgrain production can then be expected to follow the cycle of overproduction,
fall in prices, underproduction, and inflation.
 FOOD SUBSIDY
 REDUCING QUALITY OF FOOD SECURITY:
Offering higher prices to procure after inflation could increase its food subsidy
many times,thereby reducing the quality of food security.

 BURDEN ON CONSUMERS WHILE CASH TRANSFER:

The government could work out the amount of cash to be transferred in lieu of
the supply of food grains at the time when market prices are low. The
consumers would then have to bear the burden of the higher prices when the
cycle reaches its phase of inflation.

 SECURITY OF FARMERS &

CONSUMERS AT RISK:
The Bill transfers the risk of
overproduction to the farmers and
Inflation to consumers. Thus, under
the guise of providing food security to
the poor and starving, the Bill actually
destroys the security of both the
farmers and consumers.
PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
 Started in 1960s it was for everyone till 1992 when it
was tried for tribal blocks of far and difficult areas to
improve the reach and in 1997 it was made targeted to
poor people
 State Government responsibility to identify poor and
ensure that they get the benefit
 When started it aimed for 6 crore (60 million) people
with 72 lakh tones of grains
 Role of PDS in Fortification
 Common goal to reach poor and hard to reach people
at an affordable cost
 System in place and we need to piggy back
 Supply fortified atta in place of grains is all that we
need to do
 Wheat fortification most practical fortified with iron,
folic acid, vitamin A, (iodine), in that priority.
 Rice fortification and sugar fortification are also
promising
 PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
IT LOOKS INTO:

Ways of procurement of food grains

 Ways to store food gains
 Local public distribution, Setting quantity and issue price
 Distribution of food grains
Setting of fair price shops
Issue of ration cards
Monitoring the procurement , distribution and sale of
subsidised food grains
Use of technology and monitoring and information system.
PROCUREMENT OF FOOD GRAINS
 DECENTRALIZED PLANNING:
 The Central Government shall undertake decentralized planning process and to
procure, store and distribute food grain at local levels from district to panchyat,
with a view to minimize transportation costs.
 The Government, through its agencies opens procurement centres within a radius
of 10 kilometres wherever feasible and provide on spot payment to farmers.

 PROPER STORAGE OF FOOD GRAINS:

 The Central and state governments takes necessary steps to develop adequate
infrastructure designed and constructed on scientific basis for storage of food
grains at state, district and block level as the case may be for distribution under
this Act and for adequate buffer stocks.

 LOCAL PUBLIC SYSTEM MODELS :

 The Centre and the state government support local Public Distribution including
grain banks may be deemed as necessary and assist the distribution to be
financially viable. The government shall take support of locals(educated mass) for
the awareness of local people.
 FAIR PRICE SHOPS
 SET WITHIN THE HABITATION:
 The State government set up Fair Price shops for the delivery of
subsidized food grains within 3 Kilometres of a habitation.
 PREFERRENCE TO COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS:
 The State Government when issuing licenses for fair price shops
give preference to community institutions such as Self-Help Groups
and Cooperatives or public bodies such as Gram Panchayats or
nongovernmental organizations
 FINANCIALLY VIABLE:
 The State Government shall ensure that the Fair Price Shops are
financially viable by ensuring that reasonable commissions and
operational costs are provided in a time bound manner.
 RATION CARDS
 INCLUDES CLEAR ENTITLEMENTS:
 Every identified household receives a ration card which shall be designed
to include a clear entitlements page written in simple words in the
official language(s) of the state, with details of foodgrain entitlements as
well as helpline numbers and grievance redressal mechanisms.
 Ration cards issues in the name of an adult woman member of the family
 PERIODICAL CHECKING:
 The State Government conducts periodical checking of ration cards to
clear ineligible and bogus ration cards as well as bogus units in ration
cards.
 The State Government upon application makes any additions or
alterations in the ration card within one month of receipt of application
 NATIONAL FOOD COMMISSION
 CONSTITUTION OF NATIONAL FOOD COMMISSION:-
 To exercise the powers and perform the functions assigned to it under this Act.

INCLUDES
 The Chairperson, Member Secretary and other members shall be
appointed from amongst persons:-There shall be not less than two
women.
 The Chairperson, Member Secretary and Members shall be appointed
by the President by warrant under his or her hand and seal.
 Resignation and removal of Chairperson, Member Secretary and
Members:- Shall only be removed from his or her office by order of the
President on the grounds of proven misbehavior or functional
incapacity.
 Terms and conditions of service of Chairperson, Member Secretary
and Members:-Reappointment to the post of member shall be in
accordance with Section 37 of this Act.
 FUNCTIONS

 Suomoto or on a receipt of information

  Advise the Central and State government
 Monitor the conditions of persons living in starvation
 Impose penalties in accordance with Section 87 of this
Act.
 Entertain appeal against the orders of the State Food
Commission in accordance with S. 58 of this Act.
Powers relating to inquiries
 Summoning and enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining
them on oath.
  Discovery and production of any document.
 Receiving evidence on affidavits.

INVESTIGATION

It includes various steps-

 summon and enforce the attendance of any person and examine him.
 require the discovery and production of any document.
 requisition any public record or copy thereof from any office.
 Inquiry into complaints
 Call for information or report from the Central Government or any State.
 Recommend to the appropriate government disciplinary action or
proceedings against a public servant where the inquiry discloses a
misconduct .
 Direct the Appropriate Government to grant compensation or damages
to the complainant or to the members of his family as the National Food
Commission may consider necessary in accordance with Section 88 of
this Act.

APPEAL:
 Any person, aggrieved by an order made by the National Food
Commission in exercise of its function conferred by clause (a) of section
45 may prefer an appeal against such order to the Supreme Court within a
period of ninety days from the date of the order.

ANNUAL REPORTS
 The National Food Commission shall submit an annual report to the
Central Government
 DUTIES OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
 After the National Food Security Bill was passed it shall be the duty
of the Central Government to ensure that adequate budgetary
provisions and timely allocation of resources are made within one
year .

 The Central Government shall in consultation with the National Food

Commission make schemes for all the entitlements under this Ac
 all existing food and nutrition related schemes of the Central
Government including but limited to, the Integrated Child
Development Scheme, the Midday Meal Scheme, and the Public
Distribution System and Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana shall
be deemed to be schemes under this act.
In particular such schemes shall be framed for :-

 pregnant and nursing women

 treatment of malnutrition in all its various forms
 children from birth till age of six years
 mid day meals
 protocols for dealing with starvation and starvation
deaths
 opening of anganwadis and facilities therein
 homeless and destitute persons
 community kitchens
 DUTIES OF STATE GOVERNMENT
 The State Government shall be directly responsible for effective implementation of
the entitlements under this Act.
 The State Government shall set up Anganwadis for all children in the age group of
0-6 years and pregnant and nursing women.
 Anganwadis shall be set up in rural rehabilitation and urban areas in proportion
to the population with certain minimum facilities as set out in the schedule(2)
here to.
 The state government shall put in place the following areas as may be necessary :-
 Community Kitchens in urban areas
 Destitute Feeding Centres in necessity areas

 The State Government shall ensure that all scheme guidelines are widely
disseminated and made available in convenient form in local language and
internet.
 The State Government shall issue Job Charts for all functionaries involved in the
implementation all entitlements under this Act.
 The State Government shall comply with all directions given by the Central
Government to advance the purposes of this Act
DUTIES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT
 Local bodies shall also be responsible for :-
 Monitoring the implementation of all entitlements
of pregnant and nursing women as well as children.
 Monitoring the selection of beneficiaries.
 Monitoring all expenditure in their area

 Panchayati Raj institutions and Urban Local Bodies

shall ensure identification of people living with
starvation in their territorial jurisdiction, and alert
the district authorities of starvation