Food Security Bill

The government has tabled Food Security Bill in Parliament and most probably, the bill will be passed or taken for voting in next week. The bill, in its present form, proposes to give food and grains to 67% of the population at highly subsided rates. The total cost is supposed to run to close to 1 lakh crore. The bill will increase the government subsidy on food from 1% to 2% of GDP.

        While the bill may seem noble and great in its intentions, the main problem ,as usual with any other bill , is in its implementation. This bill may or may not override the current PDS system ration shops. Particularly considering the fact that ration shop system in tamilnadu is highly successful, it’s better that states should not be compelled to fall under the new bill.

The ration shops in tamilnadu provide 20 kg of free rice per month. In addition, they provide wheat at ₹ 7 , pulses at around ₹ 15  and palm oil at around ₹25.All prices are approximately one-fifth of current market prices. The current ration system which has been perfected for around 30 years has still around 30 % leakage. There are thousands of bogus cards in use and authorities themselves use these ration cards to sell these items in open market. Many local shops buy these items and sell them as rice flour or mix them with their oils/wheat,etc. If you can get 10 people with ration cards , you get around 200 kg of free-rice which you can grind and make rice flour and sell it in market for 10rs per kg.

Image courtesy: business today

 By any yardstick, out of 1 lakh crore for Food security bill, atleast 30% i.e. 30k crore rupees will go into the pockets of corrupt politicians and officials. A good portion of that amount includes thousands of rupees paid by stupid tax payers i.e. you and me. A simple math will reveal you what will happen if the government buys more than 60% of the food grains available in the market. Food prices will increase.

History says even the Iron lady Indira Gandhi tried such thing and it failed. The purpose of this bill is only one thing – to help the government get votes in upcoming general elections.