National Food Security Bill: A Case Study of Rajasthan

An Assessment of National Food Security Act 2013: A Case Study of Rajasthan

Mrs. Sapna Newar* Mr. Yashwardhan Singh**

Introduction

An Act to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. - The National Food Security Act, 2013

Cont..Ancient literature has always enunciated that providing food is one of the major responsibilities of the state towards its people. But here the questions are

whether this philosophy is valid in todays economics? Can the theory of state responsibility and freebies be applied in the free market approach? The main object of this paper is to provide solutions for effective implementation of NFSA in Rajasthan.

National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013The present act classifies the population in the following categories:Excluded (i.e., no entitlement), Priority (entitlement), further divided into APL and BPLAntyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY; Poorest of the poor - higher entitlement).

Coverage of NFSA in RajasthanRajasthan, being the second state after Haryana which has launched this mammoth program, covering 4.64 crore people in the States population of 6.86 crore. Rajasthan is already providing wheat at Re. 1 per kg to 38.83 lakh families under the BPL, State BPL and Antyodaya Anna Yojana.These families will continue to get the food grain on the existing price, while 50 lakh additional families would get wheat at Rs. 2 per kg under the food security scheme. Government estimate indicates that 69.09 per cent of the rural population and 53 per cent of the urban population in Rajasthan is set to benefit from the ambitious scheme. Here the question arises that covering such a large population is economically and socially justifiable or not.

Number and Percentage of Population below Poverty in Rajasthan for 2011-12 (Tendulkar Methodology)

RuralUrbanTotal% of personsNo. of persons(Lakhs)% of personsNo. of persons(Lakhs)% of personsNo. of persons(LakhsRajasthan16.0584.1910.6918.7314.71102.92India25.702166.5813.70531.2521.922697.83

Position of Rajasthan in India State Hunger Index (ISHI)

Lacunae in the Implementation and Coverage of NFSAUNICEF study reveals maximum under-nutrition in the five Indian states: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Orissa (Unicef 2010). According to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, only 16% of the resources allocated towards Indias food subsidized distribution scheme reach the poor (The Economist 2010).The criticisms of TPDS include the exclusion of a large number of deserving households due to problems associated with identification and exclusion (Saxena 2010). According to Rajagopalan (2010), only 18 out of 31 states had been surveyed to identify below poverty line (BPL) families; in some states where surveys had been conducted,

Solution for Rajasthan: Chhattisgarh as a Model State

Problem of Identification: To solve the problem of fake ration cards, Chhattisgarh government has created a centralized database which helped eliminate 22.5 lakh fake ration cards. Black marketing and unavailability of food: The second important step was to computerize the movement of the goods. The doorstep delivery system was put in place based on demand and the trucks transported the goods to fair price shops.Transparency and Grievance Redressal: The public grievance management system incorporated a call center with a toll free number functioning for 12 hours.

National Food Security Ordinance vs Chhattisgarh Food and Nutrition Security Act

National Food Security Ordinance Chhattisgarh Food & Nutrition Security Act

Benefit transfer Direct Benefit Transfer or Conditional Cash Transfer in lieu of food grain in future Entitlement will remain in kind (food grain)

Consumer empowerment Entitlement Portability No provision Right to choose FPS to lift entitlements Provision for migrants to take ration during migration

Community Kitchens No entitlements on the ground that it is difficult to identify eligible beneficiaries Free meals through Annapurna Dal Bhat centres or take home rations through panchayats

Emergency and Disasters No mention Meals, free of charge for up to 3 months, through emergency relief operations

People living with hunger/in starvation conditions No mention Free meals for up to 6 months

Chhattisgarh National Food Security Act and Demands of Right to Food Campaign

Demands of the Right to Food Campaign National Food Security Ordinance Chhattisgarh Food & Nutrition Security Act

Public Distribution System Coverage Universal coverage Nearly two-third coverage Nearly universal close to 90% coverage

Public Distribution System Entitlements As per ICMR norms: Food grains: 50 kg / household/ month Oil: 800 gm/adult/month or 2.8 kg/household/ month Pulses: 1.5 kg/adult/month or 5.25 kg/ household/ month 25 kg of per household 5 kg food grains/person/ month for every person covered under the PDS No provision for pulse/oils Food grains: 35 kg / household/ month Pulses: 2 kg/adult/month Salt : 2 kg iodised salt (free)

Conclusion

Simply wheat, rice and cereals at subsidized rate will not help to overcome the delinquency of malnutrition that plagues our nation. Still there is a lot to be done and to be achieved in this direction to ensure that we are able to accomplish what we intended to through this act.Jean Dreze suggests the introduction of a quasi-universal system based on specific inclusion criteria; as well as a system of food coupons which possess a unique identification number and hologram, extensively used in Tamil Nadu is another method to track PDS grain to the household level (Sebastian 2009).

Cont.Saxena (2010) recommended the introduction of technology such as digital cameras to monitor fair price shops and storage facilities; development of an effective redressal mechanism by the provision of a toll free number in order to register complaints; and the use of banking and information technology into PDS operations to ensure transparency.All these suggestions are fully or partially incorporated by the Chattisgarh state.

Recommendations:

This NFSB bill should be linked with MNREGA.More food processing units need to be established in the state. As food processing units are more labour intentive, these units will help in generation of more employment opportunities. This should be the prime objective in order to bring self-sufficiency.Food security bill is incomplete without ensuring access to safe drinking water, hygiene and sanitation. This needs to be complimented with proper nutritional intake.State needs to reduce the leakages in its PDS and through computerization needs to make it more transparent. This can be done by following Chattisgarh model.