Food bill to aim for three-pronged plan

The food security Bill is likely to adopt a three-pronged strategy to ensure food for all, particularly for the most vulnerable sections of the society. The National Advisory Council (NAC) in its initial discussions on the Bill had talked about a universalised scheme.

The inclusion strategy, mulled by the Planning Commission, will cover people affected by social or natural disasters, those belonging to vulnerable communities and regions where poverty and malnourishment is predominant. Those belonging to the vulnerable communities include the homeless, malnourished children and women, among others.

"With the current distribution system, it was unlikely that universal coverage would be a possibility. We are trying to make a case for inclusion of the most vulnerable groups under three categories. The block-level estimates will also be of help," said a Planning Commission official who is privy to the developments.

On Wednesday, the NAC is likely to finalise its position on the Bill before it goes to the Cabinet for discussion. Earlier, NAC had emphasised on including nutritional aspects to the Bill, which is in line with the thinking of the Plan panel.

The National Food security Act was UPA-II's electoral promise that would ensure Below Poverty Line (BPL) families to 35 kg of rice or wheat at Rs 3 per kg per month. On July 1, the issue of universal entitlement of foodgrain was intensely debated at the NAC where noted agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan made a strong case for extending food subsidy to all citizens.

The Plan panel had earlier based their decision on the Suresh Tendulkar report of 2009 that estimated the population BPL at 37.2 per cent of the total population (83.2 million BPL families). Now the Planning Commission has suggested a block-level ceiling that would cover blocks which are the most vulnerable.

The rural development ministry, meanwhile, is carrying out a state-wise BPL census, while the Planning Commission will come out with its own survey at the block level by the end of this month. Initial estimates of the Planning Commission shows that to provide 35 kg of foodgrain per family per month to 8.32  million BPL families, the procurement would rise by 27.42 per cent to 35.27 million tonnes (taking 2009-10 as the base year).

With the provision of 11.7 kg of foodgrain at Rs 3 per kg per month to the existing 133.6 million Above Poverty Line (APL) card holders, will require the government to increase its procurement by 95.5 per cent to 54.12 million tonnes.

In its initial draft, the Plan panel had estimated an average procurement of 53-54 million tonnes. The panel had said, "It will not be possible to guarantee allocation of foodgrain from the central pool for the APL category."

It said under the proposed law, only an "enabling provision" might be made for this category depending on the availability of stocks in the central pool.