The framework for food security, cleared by the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council on Saturday, if implemented, will entail an additional expenditure of Rs.15,137 crore annually in the first phase. It is slated to kick off next year and will cost Rs. 23,231 crore annually when the entire population is covered by March 2014.
Assuming an offtake of 85-90 per cent, the procurement will have to go up from 55 million tonnes of foodgrains to 57-58 million tonnes in the first phase, and to 63-64 million tonnes in the second phase.
(At an earlier stage of the discussions, the NAC was talking of the need to procure 85 million tonnes while pushing for a universal system of entitlements, with all citizens eligible to receive the same amount of foodgrains at the same price.)
According to the NAC's new definition, 46 per cent rural households and 28 per cent urban households will qualify as priority households; 44 per cent rural households and 22 per cent urban households will be designated as general households. Rural coverage will be adjusted State-wise, based on the Planning Commission's 2004-05 poverty estimates.
The NAC wants the food security programme implemented in two phases — in the first phase, it should be extended to 85 per cent of the rural population and 40 per cent of the urban population.
Nutrition programmes
It has also recommended legal entitlements for child and maternal nutrition (including nutrition programmes for pre-school children, pregnant and nursing mothers, maternity benefits and midday meals for school children) as well as for community kitchens, and programmes for feeding destitute and vulnerable groups. For the new components, programmes will need to be developed.
NAC sources said if the government accepted the council's recommendations, it could set in motion the process of implementation pending the drafting of a Bill and its passage in Parliament. It would just have to issue an executive order and increase the grain quotas for the States.
Those who attended Saturday's meeting, presided over by Ms. Gandhi, included M.S. Swaminathan, Ram Dayal Munda, Narendra Jhadav, Pramod Tandon, Jean Drèze, Aruna Roy, Madhav Gadgil, N.C. Saxena, A.K. Shiva Kumar, Deep Joshi, Farah Naqvi, Harsh Mander and Anu Aga.
A clarification to this story:>NAC recommendations on Food Security Bill
