Eminent development economists write an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
March 12, 2012
Dear Prime Minister,
We welcome the tabling of a National Food Security Bill in the Lok Sabha as an important step towards the elimination of hunger and undernutrition in India. However, we feel that the Bill in its current form has some serious shortcomings. We are writing to propose a simpler and more effective framework for the Public Distribution System (PDS), which requires only minor amendments of the Bill.
The Bill relies on a complicated three-way division of the population between “priority,” “general” and excluded households. This division, we feel, is problematic for several reasons. First, there is no clarity as to how these different groups are to be identified, and we have serious doubts about the possibility of devising a practical, fair and effective method of doing it. Second, with PDS benefits largely restricted to priority households, this approach would have many of the weaknesses of “BPL targeting,” which has proved so unreliable and divisive in the past. Third, this rigid framework, based on selection criteria and other parameters prescribed by the Central Government, would undermine the positive trend towards a more inclusive PDS in many states. Last but not least, this framework is confusing — simplicity and transparency are essential for the success of this historic legislation.
We submit that it would be simpler, safer and more effective to abolish the distinction between general and priority households, and give the same PDS entitlements to all households outside the excluded category. This would dispense with the need for a complicated identification process, except for the use of exclusion criteria, which is relatively straightforward. The risk of exclusion errors would be small. And everyone would be able to understand this framework, making it much more likely to succeed. (The poorest households would continue to receive special support under the Antyodaya programme.)
The attached note, “Simplifying the National Food Security Bill,” presents a more detailed outline of this proposal. As explained in this note, this approach could go a long way even without additional resources (compared with the current version of the Bill).
We, the signatories of this letter, take different views on other aspects of the Bill, especially PDS reforms, including alternative models of subsidy delivery such as food coupons or cash transfers. The Bill, best thought of as an enabling legislation, should facilitate informed scrutiny of these alternatives without imposing a rigid model across the country. As far as the issue raised in this letter is concerned, we unanimously believe that simplifying the framework is essential for the success of the Bill.
We urge you to consider this proposal.
Yours sincerely,
Dilip Abreu (Princeton University);
Pulapre Balakrishnan (Director, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram);
Abhijit Banerjee (Massachusetts Institute of Technology);
Sangeeta Bansal (Jawaharlal Nehru University);
Pranab Bardhan (University of California, Berkeley);
V. Bhaskar (University College, London);
Ashwini Deshpande (Delhi School of Economics);
Bina Agarwal (Director, Institute of Economic Growth);
Mahendra Dev (Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research);
Jean Drèze (Allahabad University);
Bhaskar Dutta (Warwick University);
Maitreesh Ghatak (London School of Economics);
Deepti Goel (Delhi School of Economics);
Ashima Goyal (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research);
Himanshu (Jawaharlal Nehru University);
Rajshri Jayaraman (European School of Management and Technology, Berlin);
K.P. Kannan (former Director, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram);
Anirban Kar (Delhi School of Economics);
Reetika Khera (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi);
Ashok Kotwal (University of British Columbia);
Srijit Mishra (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research);
Dilip Mookherjee (Boston University);
K. Nagaraj (Asian College of Journalism);
R. Nagaraj (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research);
Sudha Narayanan (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research);
Pulin Nayak (Delhi School of Economics);
Rohini Pande (Harvard University);
Kirit Parikh (Chairman, Integrated Research and Action for Development);
Bharat Ramaswamy (Indian Statistical Institute);
Debraj Ray (New York University);
Atul Sarma (former Vice-Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University);
Abhijit Sen (Member, Planning Commission);
K. Sundaram (Delhi School of Economics);
Jeemol Unni (Director, Institute of Rural Management, Anand);
Sujata Visaria (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology);
Vijay Vyas (Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister).
(All the signatories are development economists.)
Click here to read the attached note Simplifying the National Food Security Bill (PDF)
Click here to read the Letter to the Prime Minister on National Food Security Bill (PDF)
Keywords: food security, food bill, NAC, right to food
Dear Dr Kannan,You have not done proper home work before suggesting
that PDS was a failuare. Go to Chhatisgarh, Tamil Nadu and even Odisha, everywhere PDS is a success and delivery of very good as all of them have adopted the principle of (near) universal PDS (Odisha did in a limited area in KBK region only). The central government's formulation of PDS is certainly a failure due to putting a limit on the number of poor in every state.
@Nithin:
Technology: Where will this Tech dev come from? Relying on Government
on this will not work. Its a rarity in history. One can argue internet
and GPS came out of governement labs, but adapting the technology to
everyday use was done by individuals.
60%: The point that I was trying to make is that there are too many
farmers. Farmers in India are like small business owners. Now, all of
them might not be good at that. You might be a great farmer, but
business is an altogether different ballgame. May be the farmers who
commit suicide will be better of being employees. For ex, if Infosys
was split and given to all engineers will the engineers be better off?
Also, developed countries that are self sufficient dont have this many
farmers. USA has <5%. How do you explain that?
When I say farmers need to move out, I am not advocating a Soviet like
order asking them to do something else. Whereas, take regulations and
government out of this so that market forces can take over.
it is good article.prime minister should pay attention to this proposal.
Oh! so many economists! Still India suffers.Are they heard properly anytime by our rulers? But they have suggested a good note . But small is beautiful and under control. please go region specific and there is no one common solution for several Indias in One India.Handle it selectively, use GIS for making grids of nutrition imbalance,delineate management zones, find excess production areas,free the farmer to sellhis product to any one .Why only FCI? Where we stand depends on where we sat ?That' all.I need some more insights .Thank you..
@ Madhu, I am satisfied to some extent to what you have proposed above.
The main problem her is not about percentages, its about Policies. Our Agricultural policies are of 19th Century,nothing NOTABLE after the Green Revolution or we are still stuck with it. There has been no Significant Technology Development in the Field of Agriculture. You can do the Production of Agricultural Products comparison between countries and find out the Fact, never depend on others for FOOD is what i feel!!
We should be able to satisfy our needs first.The yields are going down and productivity decreasing. Self suffeciency is the main task, 60% of our Population is still not able to Satisfy the Countries Requirements (You get the Point). If we are so sufficient "FARMERS DONT HAVE TO COMMIT SUICIDE". Instead of looking into such serious issues,the UPA is hell bent on Corrupting the system again with thier NFSB.
What Proffession do you recommend for a Farmer??
I wanted to get comments on some points that I have been thinking
about. I believe that we are very inefficient when it comes to food
production. How do you explain 60% of farmers in India? Do we need
this many farmers working inefficiently? Why not lift land ceiling
acts and allow individuals (or private companies for that matter).
This will lead to consolidation, improve efficiency and access to
technology etc. Also, the farmers will be able to take up other
occupations increasing overall domestic output. Why are we still an
agricultural country? All countries had been agricultural to begin
with and slowly had moved to other industries. My research on this
subject is minimal at best, and would like to hear some views and info
on this matter. Thanks.
Dear Signatories and Economists, I appreciate your concerns regarding this bill, but I am bound. I am unable to convince my cabinet to pass this bill. My first priority is to protect the members of parliament, to hide their wrong doings and ensure that my ministers do everything to make their families prosper and deposit money abroad.
The common man comes second. Our priority is not common man. Our priority is to keep our images clean while we keep on doing everything against the common man. I am only following Jawahar Lal Nehru's agenda of politics.
I apologize for not being able to take any action on your request. However, I am sure that we will find an alternative to make people believe that we have done good work.
Yours Sincerely,
The Prime Minister of India
Dr. Manmohan Singh
KONDA BABY
Are we producing enough, are we distributing well, Is there corruption that needs to be adjusted? Basically, all boils down to governance and election of representatives. People who asked Anna Hazare to participate in elections if he had guts ought to ask themselves, if without their party, they could win on their own and make the contribution to the country?
Everything has a solution and everything relies on governance and selection of representatives. Universal application of ideas across India is doomed to fail. Select a region, apply a model, focus and fix it. Then apply where ever possible.
I am uncertain if my idea would work, but alternatives being discussed seem to be lacking in consensus. So anything is worth a try, yes? Would it be possible to distribute coupon cards to those in need of supplemental food? Cards could be used in retail shops to buy surplus grain or other specific products. The retailers would buy the stock from the governments (union/state) or government sponsored farmer coops. The shops, both large and small, would be allowed a 5-6% mark-up from the price they pay, providing them reason to be involved. It would also save the government from being a direct distributor; they'd send mystery shoppers out to ensure mark-ups are with parameters. As a buyer, government could shape better prices for farmers, and also influence retail prices as a retail supplier. Coupons may deflect inflationary pricing from direct cash payments. And as an aside, grow more tasty amaranth and high amino/protien quinoa, less wheat! Excellent reporting again by The Hindu.
If we will not implement distinction between general and priority categories, then we have to cover more population under one category. which will require more grains to distribute. we are already facing scarcity of grains, then how we will manage to feed this large category which also include some less poor population.
I remember that supreme court ordered government to distribute grains rotting to poor people. But Mr. Pawar straightaway refused to do so. Our politicians do not have the will to do anything. These letters may provide a solution or may not. But nothing will happen. And why politicians should worry. Mr. Singh is getting Tandoori Chicken in every meal.
When the PDS has failed in many ways and States, can it handle the NFSB.
Building a system on a already broken Foundations makes no sense.
Firstly there's a need to Strengthen the PDS,and help the Agriculture sector. Building Dams, Reservoirs, canals and better Water Management plans will help us strengthen ourselves. Blatantly passing thousands and crores of money which is of no use to the Common man....will be a Blessing to already Corrupt System of Ours.
Identification of bonafide households in this three way classification of proposed food security bill is really a complicated task.Following of this system would ultimately cause to the negation of entitlement to the many genuine households. So in order to avoid this complication government should pay heed to the measures suggested through this letter.
If even a parliamentary discussion cannot be initiated on the changes proposed in this letter, then there is no use expecting much from the Government.
The main hurdle for implementing any proposed NFSB is to maintain the same constant
supply of food resources every year, without disturbing the resources which are for the
people who have the capability to buy from the market, for this we need to strengthen
our agricultural setup.
The others are the need to strengthen our PDS system, make sure that this plan reaches
the most isolated families and people.
Also if anybody can provide the information that what are the criteria for selection of
the three stated categories? Will be glad. Thanks.
What is the use in showing a mirror to a blind man?
It is very easy to write a letter to the Prime Minister. The real point is whether the letter provides a solution? Who will decide what is the market rate of wheat at local market? At present MP wheat is being sold in the local market at Rs. 20 to Rs. 24 per kg. Hence, in order to transfer cash to the beneficiary what will be the amount for a family of two persons - 5 X 2 x Rs.20 or Rs 24 per month? or 25 x Rs. 20 or Rs. 24? per month.
The letter written by economists does not solve one more problem. The real problem in the National Food Security Bill is how to decide, who will decide, who will be excluded, who will come in the excluded category say in a village or a town or in say in Delhi?
The usual sin of development economists is sensationalising food distribution than food production. First the sacred cow "PDS". Can it be relied upon? Have we not learnt lessons from the failed performance of the PDS? Allow the market to distribute and provide direct social security to poor and vulnerable.
Second, the fore most important issue is, can we produce enough to feed our millions? In the 60s and 70s, when we confronted with food production, we were ridiculed by western economist as an incurable country (fancy Triage theory). But we proved that the western economists were wrong because we fully exploited our wetlands and irrigated agriculture to reach the targeted 150Mt (from 50mt). Thanks to the green revolution. Now alas, large part of our productive and fertile wet land and irrigated agricltural lands are burried under housing and industrial establishment..point of no return...the greatest tradgey of our generation! Most wetland should have been preserved as reserve.
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