There was irony in the timing of the petrol price decontrol order. The decision, which also covered major hikes in diesel and kerosene prices, and affects hundreds of millions of people, came even as Manmohan Singh advised world leaders in Toronto on the need for “inclusive growth.” And while we are still debating “food security” and how best that should be achieved in law. It came while food price inflation edges towards 17 per cent and general inflation is in double digits. Who are we trying to “include” in that growth?
No less tragic was the media's reaction to the price decontrol. Even as Cabinet Ministers sought to distance themselves from it, the editorials mostly reeked of triumphalism: “Free at Last,” screamed one. “A bold, welcome move,” shrilled another headline. With rare exceptions, the edits — in contrast to the response of millions to Monday's bandh — showed yet again how far the mass media are from mass reality.
Most of the time, as the late Murray Kempton used to say, the job editorial writers do, is to “come down from the hills after the battle is over and shoot the wounded.” The media have done that definition proud. There's even been an editorial on Bhopal in the same month that didn't wait for that battle to be over. It finds the villains of Bhopal to be the “activist industry that continues to milk the tragedy.” And mourns the real tragedy: that “any corporation, across the world, would be forced to think twice before proudly announcing to its shareholders that it has set up an ancillary unit in Bhopal.” It does not once mention the words “Union Carbide.” Roll over Kempton. The shooting's on.
The early protests against the price rise got short shrift in the media. In the largest English daily, it earned a couple of stories spanning a modest few inches across three or four columns. The same daily twice devoted a full page — without an ad — on successive days to the death by suicide of a fashion model in Mumbai. Also, passing off without much comment this week — the elevation of our Food and Agriculture Minister to the post of president of the International Cricket Council. At a time when the entire nation is focussed on the issue of food prices and food security.
Mr. Pawar is quoted as saying (AFP, New Delhi, July 2) that he would request the Prime Minister to lessen his ministerial workload. “I may suggest having more hands to help me. I had asked for three Ministers but they have given me only one,” he told journalists. “... If I request to reduce some of my work, we may find some solution.” However, he does promise us that “I won't allow my work in the government to suffer.” That's reassuring. Maybe it's time for the Prime Minister to extend inclusive growth to bring the Food and Agriculture Minister into food and agriculture. (Or we could include cricket in that sector.) Four Ministers in the same field would be truly inclusive.
Yet the fuel price decontrol will profoundly affect the prices of just about everything. At a time of already spiralling food costs. Punctuated by periodic claims that “it should come down within a couple of months,” from Ministers and UPA hacks.
Now comes the news that the food security bill may be set for a radical overhaul. I guess that is welcome — it can't be worse than the early attempts at drafting one. Take for instance the meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers held in February. They were to “discuss the enactment of the proposed National Food Security Bill.” The first thing the EGoM came up with was this gem. 2.1 (a) “The definition of Food Security should be limited to the specific issue of foodgrains (wheat and rice) and be delinked from the larger issue of nutritional security.”
Food security delinked from nutritional security? Note that the same line concedes nutritional security is “the larger issue.” Why then the need to delink the two?
Is 35 kg of rice at Rs. 3 a kilo (for a section of the population) food security? Are there no other determinants of food security? Like health, nutrition, livelihoods, jobs, food prices? Can we even delink the fuel price hike from discussions on food security? Or from the wilful gutting of the public distribution system? Or from the havoc wrought by the ever-growing futures trade in wheat, pulses, edible oils and more?
The truth is the government seeks ways to spend less and less on the very food security it talks about. Hunger is defined not by how many people suffer it, but by how many the government is willing to pay for. Hence the endless search for a lower BPL figure. To the government's great dismay, all three officially-constituted committees have turned up estimates of poverty higher than its own. Even the Tendulkar committee, closest to the ruling elite's worldview, raises the estimate of rural poverty to 42 per cent. (On a weak and fragile basis, it is true. But still higher than the government's count.)
The BPL Expert group headed by N.C. Saxena raises that to around 50 per cent. While the report of the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector states on its first page that 836 million Indians (77 per cent of our people) live on Rs. 20 a day or less. Accepting that, for instance, would mean a few thousand crores more in spending on the hungry. The official line is simple. Since we cannot afford to feed all the hungry, there must only be as many hungry as we can afford to feed.
Most dishonest of all is the “there-is-no-money” line. The country spends Rs. 10,000 crore on a new airport. There's Rs. 40,000 crore or more for the Commonwealth Games. There's Rs. 60,000 crore happily lost in the spectrum scam. There's Rs. 500,000 crore in write-offs under just three heads for the super-rich and the corporate sector in the current Union budget. But funds for the hungry are hard to come by. What would it cost to universalise the PDS? Pravin Jha and Nilachal Acharya estimate that if rice/wheat were made available to all Indians at Rs. 3 a kilo, it would add Rs.84,399 crore to the food subsidy in coming budgets. That's about one-sixth of the tax write-offs for the wealthy in this year's budget. (Other estimates place the added expenditure each year at no more than Rs. 45,000 crore).
What will be the costs of not finding the money — in a country which ranks at 66 among 88 in the Global Hunger Index? In a nation whose child malnourishment record is worse than that of sub-Saharan Africa? A country now ranking 134 in the United Nations Human Development Index below Bhutan and Laos?
The same country that has 49 dollar billionaires in the Forbes list. (Many of whom receive government freebies in diverse forms. Some for their IPL involvements). If a government will not even try to ensure that no citizen goes hungry, should it remain in power? Or should it, at the very least, state honestly that the food security of every Indian is neither its aim nor its intent? Why tag ‘food security' to a bill that will legitimise the opposite? How can we call something a ‘right' if everyone does not have it?
A disclosure: I was a member of the BPL Expert Group. In a note annexed to that report, I argued that in four sectors — food, healthcare, education and decent work — access had to be universal. That flows from the Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution. The rights of our people are based on their being citizens. Not on their ability to pay. Not on their being BPL or APL (or even IPL). Rights, by definition, are universal and indivisible.
Will the features of the government's proposed food security bill take the Directive Principles forward? Or will it weaken them? Diluting constitutional rights and presenting the watered down mix as progressive legislation is fraud. The only PDS that will work is a universal one. It is only in those States that have the closest thing to a universal system — Kerala and Tamil Nadu — where the PDS has functioned best.
Now there's talk of an “experiment” making access to food (that is, mainly wheat and rice) “universal” in about 150 districts. While this might be a step forward in thinking, it could prove a misstep in practice. This is “targeting” in other clothes. It could collapse as foodgrain from districts that are “universal” migrate to districts that are not. Better to go that final mile. Universalise.
Keywords: Food security bill, BPL Expert Group, Public Distribution System, United Nations Human Development Index
It's definitely a good work by Sainath who have enough to say on rural India. People who used to sit along with only the top level academicians, technocrats and bureaucrats should come down and take a journey into the life of commons in the rural areas of our country. It's a very sad and humiliating one to take an approach of mere economics towards the problem of food security.
The author has rightly argued about the very basic purpose of National Food Security Bill. I am astonished how it has delinked nutrition & food. If further elobarated, the poor can have wheat & rice but they don't have right to balanced diet . Mr S Pawar & company has to reply such questions. Further Mr Pawar is unable to handle the work burden of a cabinet minister then why not he resign. This is high time UPA think tank did home work.
"ROTI, KAPDA AUR MAKAAN" unless and until these three basic necessities are being fulfilled, no one can think of a developed nation. Such articles of P Sainath are to be paid attention by the government if we really want our nation to be a developed one.
Going through article & various comments, I would like to add this. We need to provide food, clothes, residence, education, health, employment to all our citizen. But we do have limited resources. Question is that how to provide quality life with limited resources in our country? In my opinion we should encourage & create awareness about ENTREPRENEURSHIP. A successful entrepreneurship will not only solve the issues of individual, but also solve the many issues of society. This can result in solving many issues of India at large.
Sainath's article is a must read. I may add that in order to have the distribution system to work effectively, we should also increase the amount of food availble for distritution. India's food supply remains constant for the last forty years hovering around 200 to 220 million tons per year. However, during the same period the number of mouth to feed has doubled. The need of the hour is to find ways and means to increase food productivity per acre, which remains among the lowest in the world including African countries. In order to improve crop productivity per acre, modern crop production technogies are to be given to our farmers to replace the current primitive farming methods. The people responsible for this are agriculture scientists, and not politicians or economists. However, the capability of our scientists themselves calls for improvemnt. This can in turn be achieved only through revamping the outdated agriculture university curricula. It is heartening to know that non-agriculture but young educated sensible and entrpreneurial youths in some parts of the country are successfully adopting modern crop production technologies and achieving 300% to 400% crop productivity improvement per acre for the last two years. These people have plans to adopt value addition to crops elevating agriculture to an industry to better safeguard the food security of country.
This is good compilation and hard hitting story on India's situation. This document has to circulated in the public forums and discussed in details. We are living in a superficial world without realising the ground truth. As you have mentioned the airport, commonwealth games gives a wrong signal to the western countries, we see india as developong country, but the reality is not. This is very rightly highligted in your artcile
I think like the article says, most people get affected by food inflation. Also, based on the difference of whole sale and retail prices, our systems are very inefficient and some good reforms are required to make sure, that farmers get good price, consumers also get good price. The middle men who add very little value should reduce their greed and we should create more competition to reduce the margins of middle men.
We need a reform in creating competition for collection, and distribution of food grains and there by make quality food grains available at affordable prices.
In India middle men make more money than the farmers. They take the least risk and are not at all affected by monsoon.
Well said Sir. This article somehow reminds me the lessons in my Social Studies text book....we used to read...India is a developing country...the gap between haves and havenots is huge....we need to have proper reforms to reduce the gap...
Interestingly things haven't changed even today :(
Sainath,
While I have for many years followed your articles, stories, this is one of the few where I have to disagree with you.
There is a distinction between mismanagement of funds and trying to set the price of various commodities which are not in your control.
First, in my opinion, our farmers will be real beneficiaries of any gains through futures trading. If the government sets the MSP of dal at Rs 40 while the market price is Rs 100, obviously, the farmers are losing out on what they can potentially make. Additional costs before they arrive into various parts of the country do not add Rs 60 to the cost. You have an agriculture minister who does not know what is in our godown and obviously, food mismanagement will only increase.
Secondly, if a product is imported so massively from outside the country, we cannot for sure subsidize it. Quite clearly, the last person who needs to be precluded is a person like me posting this comment. I should be willing to pay higher prices to afford my current lifestyle. You simply cannot ignore laws of economics on demand and supply here esp if you are importing 90+% of it.
Third and finally, a vast part of the problems that we are today facing are the inefficiencies in the various market and PDS outlets.
The government has various useless schemes which do not make sense for the farmers and there are similarly useless schemes which are present for the rich.
Nice article.
Before election everybody was talking about the black money in Swiss bank. After election leaders are again busy in filling the bank account instead of emptying them. The real cause of Indian poverty is corruption. Why not to try eradicate corruption instead of poverty?
Poverty is a by product of corruption.
Right to food is the most basic of all rights. If the state cannot ensure right to life then it obviously can not ensure any other right. Extreme poverty is a denial of human rights. The poor are not poor because they are less human or inferior than others but because of the failure of the society to establish fairness and equity.Article 21 of the Constitution of India confers the right to life to all its citizens.
Very nice article with valuable information. Unfortunately these sector is managed by people who are ignored, they are not well informed about the science behind it also they have no clue. this is even true to some of our renowned scintists.
As you rightly pointed out that the cricket should be addded to the food & Agriculture Minsitry !what a shame that our food security is left with such devoted people!
De-regulation of petrol price was an essential step forward, but addressing food security should be the prime responsibility of the Government.The centre should be taking the right step in ensuring the poor gets the basic need nat all times.
Sorry,a digress this but can't resist replying to some posts above.
.."Socialistic policies failed in every country it was applied.I had opportunity to meet people who lived under socialistic utopias like USSR and cuba.The conditions in which they live are horrible.Please don't advocate a policy which will pave the road for socialism and serfdom." Jay Ramasamy
...."No socialist country has ever become prosperous. Please stop advocating these wealth re-distribution plans." Vijay
Vijay&Jay Ramasamy,i suggest you take a trip here to the scandinavian lands;all with a socialist past&present.They constantly top the global rankings on nearly all social&democratic parameters.
Cuba&USSR were& are single party communist states.Please atleast study a subject before you make claims!For various reasons,there are misnomers aplenty in our world.Adults,as i take you are,you must know by now.
Of late,the saffron enthusiasts have also started claiming some kind of "National Socialism",often clueless about the fact that nazism (Nationalsozialismus abbrv.) was what first called itself national socialism&was ofcourse closely aligned to fascism in italy.
In the end the terms are only but terms...but can we all not try to not fall for the propaganda&wordspin.
"The rights of our people are based on their being citizens. Not on their ability to pay. Not on their being BPL or APL (or even IPL). Rights, by definition, are universal and indivisible." Superb!!!
I completely agree with the author...As the author says there is much importance given to recreation activities than to the supply of healthy food to the poor people...Though the Govt is providing subsidised rice at 2 per kg to the people..it should really know how much percentage of the really poor people is benefited by the scheme..,Most of the rice is sold at higher price to other people leaving almost nothing to the really poor...,Once it was said that out of 1 rupee alloted by the govt to the development of the poor only 10 paise reaches them..,Govt should be very cautious and should note all the intermediate persons involved in transfering the money to the needy..,India ia said as a developing country to us since from chidhood and we are in mid 20's of age and still India is said to be a developing country..,This is really sad..,The world's largest Democratic country has done nothing in the favour of real needy..,IPL is by far the largest entertainment,India have never seen..,The recent 3G spectrum soldout has brought much limelight in the exchequer..,We should really wait and watch how much of the total money will reach the poor...,The real problem is not with the Politicians but is with the people who are blindly following them..,People should be insurgent and should fight for the development of the country if anything is going against it .Awareness should be empowered among people for Right to vote..,Franchise is the only power in the hand of people through which they can really strive for the development of the country...,
JAI HIND..,
A nice thought provoking article . Wish it provokes some thought with the people who matter in decision making .
Universalisation of food, healthcare, education and decent work — is obviously desirable but would be least acceptable to the govt as it universalisation would make it right of very Indian to ask for basic amenities and increase the accountability of the Govt . Secondaly it would do away with the system which offer scope of Corruption . Creating hierarchies or levels in any thing be it health, education or food distribution is akin to the Britishers policy of Divide and rule. Creating levels in anything for instance APL/BPL for food security, quality of education , health care etc are all the systems which render "benefits" akin to "Rule" in the divide and rule policy, which become means of creating ill systems like PDS that suit them and become the means of corruption.
The article on food security was thought provoking and by and large true. I would like to add further that food security can not be seen in isolation in supplying wheat and rice to the poor people. There is a larger question of providing year long employment to willing population and that too at fair living wages. This alone would provide the much publicised food security bill.
At the outset, I appreciate this article. Any government comes to power they only think of providing subsidies (or) proving free stuffs to people. Is this the right direction if the country wants to become a developed country. No Agriculture ministry / Government thinks of ways to improve Agriculture. No State Government / Central cares about improving Agriculture (or) providing the support to Farmer to improve the Agriculture. See right now, present so called Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar is spending most of the time in money earning business like Cricket, IPL etc. More than 60% of Country's population depend on Agriculture industry. Though I work in London as Software Engineer, I came from Agriculture family, I know the problem faced by Farmers. I have many ways to solve their problems and do Agriculture Revolution. This is the worst scenario in India. When ever people is in need of something, Government won't provide a means to get that instead they provide that just for that meal like giving free lunch, subsidised goods etc. That's fine for Temporary arrangement but they have to implement plans so that they get means of life. Finds ways to produce more foods such as Rice, Wheat, Cotton, Sugar cane. Allowing the farmers to decide when to harvest Sugar cane rather than Sugar cane factory deciding the harvest like these there are minute details starting from the Fertilizer, soil testing, electricity to Water supply. These are not major things, these are easily achievable but no Government cares. Big big So called Finance ministry & MMS would do budget which would make elite people (or) giant business people happier not common man(Aam aadmi). Congress talk about Aam aadmi, this is rubbish, vote bank politics. Don't know when they will stop this. If we don't produce enough food, population increase, thereby demand increases, we would be in worst state in the near future even if PDS improves.
Creation as well as distribution of wealth is equally important. No country become poor by public funding to health, education and PDS system. Government has to pay attention to these sectors to improve the overall socio-economic condition of the country.
At least it is nice to see that many people participating in this kind discussion, well done Mr. Sainath.
The Govt does not want to give food security at all--- they just want to fill up the pockets of middle men after all it is they who come in handy during elections---if you universalise anything-- food, health or education the present politicians will get eliminated--they cannot afford it!! Keep the people in perpetual WANT so that they will live with a HOPE FOR BETTER TOMORROW!!
A very well written article.
The people in the PM's office fail to understand the importance of basic necessities like food, shetler and proper employment.
I would be greatly surprised if anyone from the PMO reacts to this.
However, we as citizens of India, have a responsibility to see that we don't waste food. I see many people on the name of parties wasting food. Undoubtedly, they do exercise the right to spend lavishly on food,but it is also their duty to see that the wastage is minimized to maximum possible extent. The wastage is so much so that there are NGOs whose aim is to collect food and distribute to the needy.
The country can not prosper from freebies and donations. It has to prosper by the development of each individual on his own. Change the government's policies; provide a platform so that even the smallest and poorest could start their own buisness or work and live his life the way he wants and on his own legs.
The article is all abut how leaders are busy all other activities except the allotted ones. In my view, no system for distribution can work till corruption is there, including PDS. Freeing petrol prices is a perfect example of corporate lobbying.
I would also like to include the day to day Bandhs and rampages as the reasons for the wastage of public money.
Mr Sainath an excellent article sir but plese tell me how universalisation would help when even those which find special mention( B.P.L. etc) are not getting their due share. Mr Sainath you are a scholar and have done great research but kindly enlighten the masses as to how the pilferage in the PDS can be removed and the real benefit is being passed to those who deserve it truly. And isnt it good that oil subsidies should be ended because it is only going into the pockets of the rich and not the poor. Can you please name any BPL family that is using any luxury vehicle guzzling gallons of petrol if yes then i appreciate your view that govt is wrong in decontrolling the prices.
Hoping to get a reply.
Aditya
Wonderful article. Food security is very important. More than the money factor, the more important concern is distributing food grains. There is too much corruption and inefficiency. Also the task is not easy. Also, malnutrition is a big problem, and goes unnoticed.
By the way, I do support the deregulation of petrol prices. LPG, kerosene is still very cheap (compared to neighbouring countries) and regulated. Petrol is not as important as kerosene.
There is a heavy burden because of petrol/diesel price regulation on the government. Consumers should share some burden. People in our country can use more public transport, which is much more cheaper than driving individual vehicles. Buses and trains are heavily subsidized in our country. Also people can use bicycles for short distances. In India, we don't want to use cycles either because of a prestige issue or because we don't like to strain our body. That needs to change. This will bring less pollution in our environment too and give us some much needed exercise.
A very applaudable article but the fact is Mr.Sainath has criticised more than being practical. It is true that the agriculture minister has failed, the govenment needs to focus on developments and sould bring in more measures and schemes for the poor and BPL.The fact is how can the govenement bring in more investments.The problem is the population is more if there is no International Airport or no commonwealth games, then there would not be any foreign investments happening. If there is commonwealth games happening then the country gains its revenue through tourism and these are necessary for the jobs and employment to increase. If my house is not beautiful, then who would be ready to come? The country needs to develop infrastructurally also. At the same time I do agree with the facts and figures stated by Mr.Sainath where 77% earn lesser than Rs.20 a day but the fact is miracles cannot happen overnight.Its a development process which would happen in a period of time but the fact to be ensured is the period should be faster. Poverty is high in china too, Media freedom is higly restricted is china yet they have focussed on infrastructural developments and in attracting investments. We have a democratic rule which stagnates and punctures the PM from taking a lot of harsh decisions. Its true that A Raja should have been fired for his role in the spectrum scam but in that case the govenment would collapse without the support of an important ally and the next govenment could be even more disastrous. So everything is interlinked. The growth could be compared only with the percentage of increase comparing the previous govenement or the previous tenure. The whole world is battling inflation and it is true that it is difficult for a developing country to battle alone when bigger brothers are themselves battling recession.
A Vivek
Very well written, Sir.
'Food security' as what the Government presents is just a hollow concept.
Thank you for bringing that out to the forefront.
The article actually hit the bull's eye. Along with pointing out administrative machinery's lapses, it also very correctly higlighted media's irrsposibility. However, I wonder whether universalisation of PDS or food security bill is the ultimate solution. MGNREGA has failed to deliver potentially because of corruption involved. Simliar can be the fate of ambitious food security bill also. I feel that along with this bill, we need to make Panchayati Raj Institutions and local governance more strenthened which will, inturn, strengthen the vigilance and address the loopholes at the ground level. Then only such ambitious schemes like prospective food security or MGNREGA can be saved from falling prey to greedy babudom
Mr.Sainath's article should serve as an eye opener to our Prime Minister and his cabinet. Hope they do something to aleviate the
suffering of our poor brothers.
It is a truth that one third of the Indian population have access to food only once a day.
Distribution of procured rice and wheat that is rotting and fattening rats and insects to the millions of hungry through NGOs could help the hungry with no exxtra financial burden
Sir,
I admire the way the article is written. The Best piece of all is that this paragraph:
"Will the features of the government's proposed food security bill take the Directive Principles forward? Or will it weaken them? Diluting constitutional rights and presenting the watered down mix as progressive legislation is fraud. The only PDS that will work is a universal one. It is only in those States that have the closest thing to a universal system — Kerala and Tamil Nadu — where the PDS has functioned best.".
Why is the Government not looking at strengthening the PDS before looking at the figures of subsidies.. Whatever the Food security Bill provides for will again have to depend on the same PDS system. Until and unless that is set right one cannot hope to eradicate poverty by Government intervention. Even the states which rank high in PDS system have not computerised it till today, when the whole world is moving towards e-governance. One hopes that the Government of the day will look inwards to deliver.. not just draft schemes and implement it to the unintended, instead of to the intended group of people.
P. Sainath has starkly conveyed the insensitivity of the government towards the comman men. We say that our country is on progressive path with inclusive growth but ironically majority of population is devoid of basic amenities. Its shocking to see India ranked 66 among 88 in the Global Hunger Index. But arent we all responsible for this misery.Why dont we all voice against disparity in money distribution instead of enjoying the IPL.
Very good article! Delinking food security from nutritional security is like separating the heart from the body.
In this connection, FAO of the United Nations recently launched the 1billion hungry campaign worldwide.
Please sign up at http://www.1billionhungry.org and spread the message.
Really an eye opener. But I am not sure that this opens the eyes of politicians and bureaucrats who are least concerned about "Poverty" and "Hunger" of the poor. What happens to the subsidies and benefits that are meant to reach the poor? The "hands" of aforesaid people are everywhere and whatever help that government gives would reach to the target as 1/10th or even less than that of its original quantum. Whom should we blame?
Nice Article. Eye opener, but I am not sure of whether this opens the eyes of politicians and white collared people who is always after the big shots for their survival at times. If you include the expenditure for the government officials to measure and prevent poverty and hunger and their role in not putting the facts at the right places, the figures would be much more. Then one has to really take in to consideration that how much subsidies that have already implemented are reaching the target. If one study about such govt subsidies and benefits to the poor, we again get a worse face of politics in India. Their "hand" is every where whether it is Rs. 1 or 1 lakh.
As usual, another excellent eye-opener from Sainath. Nevertheless, we can also be sure that nothing much is going to change as far as shining india's neo-liberal remains the same.
And take note of that comment by vijay: "No socialist country has ever become prosperous. Please stop advocating these wealth re-distribution plans". Dear Sainath, didnt you read it? Please tell our team of manmohanomics and ahuliawalas to redistribute some wealth to our poor vijay and his family.
I don't understand why the writer wants to universalise the food security. Why should government make rice available at Rs 3 a Kilo to people who are not really poor and who can buy the food at it's market price. Universalising the subsidised price is actually missing the target population which actually need it more. It's not a question of how much extra money is required to fund it - unless it is not benifitting the real target even a rupee spent is a wastage of hard earned money of tax payers. The government admits that the larger issue is providing nutritional security to the poor, but since we don't have enough capacity to fund the larger issue we will provide the best that we can do with available resources, which is giving a specified amount of food at lower price. Rs 10000 crore spent on an airport and Rs 40000 crore spent on a game is not something wrong that the government is doing, this Rs 10000 crore on airport and Rs 40000 crore on game will actually generate short term revenue and make profits which will increase our capacity to increase the reach and quality of food security and other social sector spending.The writer refers to Directive Principles of State Policy for universal access to food, healthcare, education and decent work. But for the government to strive to makes it available to everyone when it doesn't have enough resources for the same is actually denying this access to poor who are at the worst risk of getting denied the access. The Government's role is to make sure that the people who cann't afford these facilities on thier own get the required help from government so that these access becomes truly universal.And that is what Directive Principle is about.
It is truly baffling to understand that 77% of our population survives on Rs. 20 per day or less. It seems that we had collectively failed as a nation. So whats all this talk about being a super power, when we could not even feed our own population and stop deaths due to malnutrition. We do not have the legitimate right to be called so. The double standards of the current Govt was clearly exposed by Mr. Sainath. Will the Govt wake up?
Implementation of policies is the main problem….same is the case with MGNREGA…..I think Govt should start recruiting best managers from IIM’s, FMS or ISB rather than forming teams of Empowered group of ministers…..what an irony….people who have looted the poor have been asked to find faults, and to improve the system….
I guess "The Hindu" is the only free media left in the country. All the other newspapers seem to be int he virtual control of the Govt. (Congress). All the other newspapers praised the move to decontrol prices while it was only in your esteemed newspaper that I read an article about the demerits of this move and how it will adversely affect the "aam aadmi" which Congress claims to be working in the best interests of.
Raviteja - you posed a question on PDS. I obviously don't have a good answer. Except to say that in well run states, the coverage is good and it reaches people. A radical idea is to give people food stamps which essentially is similar to a SODEXHO coupon that is being used in some super markets. The food stamps will allow one to go to any provision store and exchange that for food related purchases.
The advantage is that it frees up access to food at subsidized prices. PDS shops cannot claim shortage and deny what is due to people at the BPL levels. The major disadvantage is ensuring that only the needy get the food stamps.
Anand
very nice article.. and explains a lot in detail. While I do not agree that we shouldn't holding Common Wealth games or things like that since not everything need to happen sequentially, the fuel price hike was just ridiculous! I can't understand how Mr.Singh who has been quite passionate about reform for the poor was supporting this idea as it will without any doubt have adverse effects for the poor.. make food prices even more costlier n in the end only causing more food scarcity.
Rightly pointed out the infection affecting the popular dailies of our times. They are lost in singing to the mighties and have turned insensitive to the plight of needful
The only way now left is to universalize food security. Can we not make an add-on to The Fundamental Rights- Right to Food? There is no other rationale way to trap hunger; besides in the country where staple foods like dal and rice are available at rs. 100/kg and rs. 35/kg.
Nice article.When will our government understand that we don't want our nation to be ranked top in IPL matches or Oscars rather we want our country having citizens who are healthy and properly educated.All people in the country should have basic necessities of life.Is it really unattainable??
yet another brilliant piece by you!
I was kinda wondering why sainath hasn't written about universalization yet, and here you go!
Pls keep your articles coming, they are very good. I would love to read one of your writings on cash-transfers too!
[A volunteer with Right to food Campaign]
Its been long since I had an editorial touch topics with key details highlighted.
Thank You.
Let the government takes its hands off of food distribution.We won't have food problems within 10 years.
The free market which is capable of putting a cellphone in everybody's hands is also capable of putting food in everybody's plate.
We need to let the free market work.
Socialistic policies failed in every country it was applied.I had opportunity to meet people who lived under socialistic utopias like USSR and cuba.The conditions in which they live are horrible.Please don't advocate a policy which will pave the road for socialism and serfdom.
Thank you sir, as always very high quality reporting from Sainath Ji.
It seems that government does not know about its duties.It thinks that they are voted into power just make it easier for the corporations to make profit. It seems that country has made a mistake by giving mandate to a single party to rule. They are weilding uncontrolled power without thinking of the subjects of this nation.
And the media , typically echoing the views of small middle class , who are in total disconnect with the reality. I am sure that with the present model and trends of development the unprivilleged millions will be left to die on the streets our proud nation and heritage will reduce to a shopping mall.
Its a thought provoking article but the problem is not solved merely by pointing at it.The real problem is to find solution for it,which will require number of brainstorming meetings and intellectual insights but contrary to it,out Minister sahab is busy in cricket field...
Nicely written Sir. Thanks for quoting our work.
Excellent article!! The Satire in the article has come off to good effect. At least the Govt. People think about real 'Food Security' after reading this piece.
In october last year, the government of Maldives held a cabinet meeting under water to highlight the threat of global warming to the low lying Indian ocean nation.
Our guys wont do it..so I think we should force them to starve for a week and then pass the food security bill.
Delinking nutritional security with food security is a shocker!!Access to 'food',if at all,just enough to keep you from dying,hopefully.Where do the health,universal education & a whole lot other goals enshrined in the constitution fit into all this?Is it any surprise that Maoists are gaining a foothold?What are the options at all?!The govt machinery will take years arguing the nations BPL while everything else just slips away in the abyss.
What did we get from the monday bandh other than the loss of 13000 cr instead of having a nationwide bandh by the opposition parties the concerned state governments could have reduced the state tax rates on fuel.If they are concerned about the people who voted them.
It would be better if we deal only with state governments and let the state governments deal with the center
It is irony that when our state Head is addressing the world community about "inclusive growth", the state of the nation is degrading day by day. It seems that political compulsories have forced the government to raise the slogan "Eat cricket, Drink cricket & live cricket" instead of Food Security. Now Agriculture ministry has the ready made excuse for the staggering rate of inflation and ever growing food prices; that is hike of fuel prices. Long live India.
The deregulation of prices has to be done but not at this juncture. The author is right in pointing that food security and nutritional security should not be delinked. There is no logic if you have food or something and you are laking in nutrition.Finally about our Government giving tax offs to the so called biggies is routine and that is the way our Govt works.
Quite an article. I totally agree with the author, the solution lies in the universalization. A universal education, health and food system will not only provide access to all and everyone, but also prevent the hoax methods that the affluents people apply to enroll them in for such benefits earmarked for the weak and needy and depriving them. But again legislating such law (universalization) isn't enough, we are worst in implementation. So provisions should be made for there proper implementation. I think its the time now to link such garndiose projects (like JNURAM,Indira Aawas... ) and all with results. An yearly appraisal should be made with pre fixed goals to be achived for an year. This way one can map the resource utilization and the utility/futility of continuing some projects also.
I hope this telling article hits some decision makers somewhere. It is shameful - criminal in fact- that this country is able to get away with neglecting the most basic needs of its silent suffering majority. Sainath is so right; most dishonest of all is the "there is no money" line.
excellent article! Please spread it more. It really has the message and delivers it too.
Thought -provking.
Its an eye opening article which substantiated its arguments by facts and figures. It has shown that in reality the government is paying only lip service to the problems and its pro people stand is only a myth.
I think it is wrong to classify the 500,000 crore revenue write off as a concession for superrich. It includes a 40,000 crore customs exemption for fuel (to keep the pump prices low), 36,000 crores for edibles & vegetable oils to keep the inflation low, 8000 crores for fertilizer lobby, 2200 crores for a higher personal tax slab for women etc. Corporate India "receives" only a part of this exemption to partly neutralize the high taxes and other burden imposed elsewhere by the government.
Source: http://indiabudget.nic.in/ub2010-11/statrevfor/annex12.pdf
No socialist country has ever become prosperous. Please stop advocating these wealth re-distribution plans.
Nicely said sir but the topic would have been much more compelling if you had provided the means to straighten the haphazard PDS.
I think we need a clarity of vision, and a clear execution plan to fall in line with that vision. To me it is simple: Continue to push growth from the globalized India that lives in malls, drives airconditioned cars, and takes a break in Matheran / Ooty / Uttaranchal or Darjeeling. Our total revenues in 2010 were about Rs 900000 crores, compared to Rs 100,000 crores in 1996/97. The government which had about Rs10,000 crores as discretionary money to spend on poverty alleviation in 1997 now has more than Rs 60,000 crores for NREGA alone. So the vision is to drive growth relentlessly so that its coffers are much bigger. And with that - help the needy in the most direct and effective way possible. It probably means developing more effective safety nets compared to what we have today.
In the meanwhile, let us not completely discount the ability of the current model of globalization to lift people into better standards of living I am part of that India Shining now, working for a MNC. The reforms have worked for me and for many like me. The reforms are also working for many in the service economy. There are many anecdotal stories; here are two - two brothers moved from a small village into Bangalore and end up in the service sector (a driver, a technician in an event management company), they make about Rs 8000 each. Their wives work as domestic help making about Rs 3000 each, while one of them is trying to pass Engineering, their kids go to a small english medium school. They live together on Rs 25000 total per month. The lady who works in our house for 13 years has stopped now because her family has prospered. Her son is making Rs 15000 a month after getting his diploma in mechanical engineering. Her daughter is making Rs 4000 a month in a garment factory. her husband a municipal gardener makes close to Rs 8000 a month. They rent a 2 bed room apartment for Rs 7000. Clearly the number of people getting covered by the market economy are a small fraction of the total that need to be helped.
So let there be a clear vision and let there be a direct line of sight that helps the government convert growing revenues to effective help for the poor.
Anand
A good critic and I'll take it from bottom to top while analyzing. well its in human nature to not to value the things which are of little or no value to them. The question is, can we afford wastage of grains while poor of the country lives in dark, yes this would be the first consequence of devaluation of grains for all. secondly thanks to PDS it is already universal, anybody can get rice or wheat from them meant for BPL. if someone has to blame its PDS.
S. Pawar gives me shock and media not going after this serious issue of a cabinet rank minister is simply adding to that. How in the world could a minister ask for lessen his burden. If he's not capable of handling then he should resign and as a matter of fact nobody can ride two horses at the same time. We didn't voted him to look after cricket, cricket should be left to cricketers moreover its all bureaucracy, asking for more ministers and hence getting more funds, weigh and all. Its big time for government to ask their minister to concentrate on their job if they want to achieve anything of their so called "inclusive growth" agenda.
now the question is deregulation of oil prices, will it effect BPL families? if government is committed for providing food grains at aforesaid prices than no. but ya it'll gonna be a good lesson for indians pushing them for saving precious thing and using public transportation and all. Policies are not wrong but politics over them is.
Last but not the least national food security bill is shocking.
P Sainath's article on food security and his argument therein to universalise the PDS system holds strength. The inequality will definately result in syphoning of stocks. A perfect case in hand is the weekly rates of Vegetables and fruits that are published by the govt, but i sincerely wonder if any BPL is even aware of these rates, it is only a process to legitimising the same for the ruling elite and their near ones. The truth with this ruling govt is that rich is getting richer and poor is sliding down the ladder resulting in an ever widening difference.Soaring inflation and higher taxes are all targeting the aam aadmi. The UPA's pre election aam aadmi and the projects for him are all set aside for the next election where in he will re-emerge as phoenix and will be imp again for so long as the parties stablise their seats in the house of commons.
Good work, i totally agree with you. Indians being starved and inflation touching all time high of independent india and india claming to be super power of the world. Is it being super power of baggers or super power of humanity where every individual is healty and have food? They can think of other means like improving social status and working with dignity only after two times nutirtious meal. Hands of common man in general election is now slapping common man with same hands.
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