All needy families must be covered under the public distribution system providing 35 kg of food grain and other essential commodities like sugar, dal, oil, CPI(M) MP and general secretary of All India Agricultural Workers’ Union A. Vijaya Raghavan has said.
Accusing the Central and State Governments of failure to contain prices and warning them of a serious food security crisis, he wanted the NREGS to provide work for 200 days with a wage of Rs.150 a day.
Addressing a national seminar on “Food security and its impact on people” organised by the union’s district unit on Thursday, he wanted the APL/BPL divide to be done away with and opposed any attempts to reduce the number of beneficiaries in the bill proposed on food security.
Stating that 50 to 53 per cent women were anaemic, 70 to 75 per cent rural children were malnourished and 40 to 45 per cent of rural families were below poverty line in the country, he pointed out the country was faced with lack of self-sufficiency in food grain that it had at the beginning of new economic policies.
Where the Centre and other State Governments failed, the LDF Government in Kerala provided an alternative with its market intervention and three-tier system, Mr. Vijaya Raghavan said.
Additional shops
Opening additional shops in the co-operative sector, it offered 25 kg at Rs.2 for BPL families, an additional 10 kg for all families at Rs.10 and at Rs.14 for all families with no cap on quantity. Sugar and dals were also supplied on subsidy, he said adding the prices were 40 to 70 per cent less than in the open market in Kerala.
Former MP Midiam Babu Rao deplored attempts to limit PDS only to the poorer sections. Besides in procurement, stocking and distribution private sector involvement was increasing. The government was talking about a Food Security Act and a draft bill was doing the rounds that hinted at further reducing the quantity.
AU Economics Professor, Chandu Subrahmanyam, said while prices influenced food security, it was imperative to increase production to meet growing demand. Increase in purchasing power in India and China led to more demand.
Kerala model
MLC M.V.S. Sarma said a pro-poor PDS in Kerala cost about Rs.327 to meet food requirement of a person while in Andhra Pradesh it was a high Rs.576. Government procuring grain from farmers enabled it to subsidise.
Union State president P. Muralikrishna and district president A.Sesharatnam spoke.
