The Cabinet has approved promulgation of an ordinance to give effect to the Food Security Act (FSA). Far from providing food security, the Act will crack at its very foundation. The FSA guarantees availability of 5 kg of cereals per person per month at R3 per kg rice, R2 per kg wheat and R1 per kg coarse cereals to 67% of India’s population (75% rural and 50% urban). This is an astounding admission that six-and-a-half decades after Independence, nearly 800 million of country’s population is so poor that it needs be given food at ‘close to zero’ prices. The huge gulf between what people can pay for food and the cost of supply (R20 per kg plus) makes a mockery...
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Category: Agriculture & Foodgrain
Cash transfers: Food for thought
The ‘Direct Cash Transfer’ (DCT) of funds into bank accounts of beneficiaries began this month in 20 districts. It will cover the entire country by April 2014. But food and fertiliser have been kept out of its ambit. There are complex issues to be sorted out, the Finance Minister has said, without really giving an indication as to when the rollout in these critical areas will actually take place. Payments are estimated to be Rs 3,20,000 crore annually. The scheme is being bandied as a revolutionary reform that will bring transparency, enhance reach, empower poor, improve fiscal deficit and reduce corruption. The implementation if done in a manner as contemplated — correct identification of beneficiaries, inclusion of all deserving persons,...
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