Zero Hour Hunger

The only worry is that the proposed National Food Security Act of the Congress-led regime should not push the hungry deeper into a virtual hell
Devinder Sharma Delhi

The path to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions. The way to feed the hungry and impoverished in India - and I am talking of the world's largest population of hungry and malnourished - too seems to be driven by good intentions. My only worry is that the proposed National Food Security Act should not push the hungry deeper into a virtual hell.

For over 60 years now, the poor and hungry have lived in a dark abyss, waiting endlessly for their daily morsel of grain. The new food security law, with the underline promise of food-for-all, surely, provides a ray of hope for the hungry millions. It can be a new beginning, if enacted properly, and can turn appalling hunger into history.

From what I read in the newspapers, and what is emerging from the hectic parleys that the Union food ministry as well as the Planning Commission are engaged in, the path being developed is unlikely to deviate from the direction to hell. If re-classifying below-poverty-line (BPL) families by identifying the real poor who are entitled to 25 kg of grain (wheat and rice) at Rs 3/kg is the primary objective, than we have missed the very purpose of bringing in a statutory framework to ensure the right to food.

What makes it more apprehensive is the urgency with which the proposed law is being drafted. Meeting the deadline of putting this law into gear in the first '100 days' of UPA-II without first adequately debating the finer details, and trying to work out a plausible structure for a long-term food security plan - is fraught with dangers. Merely replicating the public distribution system (PDS) in a new avatar will not be sufficient to pull out the hungry from a man-made vicious circle in the margins, designed over the years by the power establishment at the top.

At present, the government provides 35 kg of foodgrains, including wheat and rice, to 65.2 million families classified as living below the poverty line (BPL). These subsidised rations are made available at a price of Rs 4.15 per kg for wheat and Rs 5.65 per kg for rice. For the 24.3 million families classified under the Antyodya scheme (also part of the BPL category), the price of grains is reduced to Rs 2 for wheat and Rs 3 for rice.

In other words, PDS on paper caters to 316 million people. These are the poorest of the poor, and the way the BPL line has been drawn (which should be basically called a 'starvation line'), the PDS should be providing them their daily need. If the PDS had been even partially effective, I see no reason why India should be saddled with the largest population of hungry in the world.
There is no reason why Punjab, for instance, the best performing state in terms of hunger, should be ranked below Gabon, Honduras and Vietnam in the Global Hunger Index.