Chhattisgarh: The trendsetter

Chhattisgarh Food Security Bill was passed on Dec 21, 2012. Under the Act, about 90% of the state's population will have PDS entitlements

In December 2007, when Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh announced no one would die of starvation, not many realised the state was going to create history.

The announcement came from the sleepy village of Sonakhan in Mahasamund district, where in 1856, the landlord of the area, Veer Narayan Singh, revolted against British rule and looted grain godowns to distribute it among people hit by severe famine. He was captured and later executed in public on December 10, 1857.

"The state government's scheme to ensure food security cover to its people had been inspired by the martyrdom of Veer Narayan Singh," Raman Singh had said.

The Chhattisgarh Food Security Bill 2012 was passed on December 21 to ensure "access to adequate quantity of food and other requirements of good nutrition to the people of the state, at affordable prices, at all times to live a life of dignity".

Under the Act, about 90 per cent of the state's population will have public distribution system entitlements, mostly under the priority and antyodaya categories, entitled to 35 kg of rice a month at a token Rs 2 and Rs 1 a kg (Rs 2 for below poverty line and Rs 1 for antyodaya), besides two kg of pulses (chana) at Rs 5 per kg and free iodised salt.

The antyodaya category comprises vulnerable groups such as tribals, widows, single women, terminally ill persons, etc.

"The food security scheme will be implemented through the public distribution system, anganwadis and civic, panchayat authorities and daal-bhat centres," said Food Secretary Vikas Sheel.

Since the public distribution system in the state had gone on-line, the possibility of leakage would be bleak, he added.

The Act also guarantees free nutritious meals or take-home rations in anganwadis, schools and other institutions for children below the age of six, school children, pregnant and lactating women, destitute persons and other vulnerable groups.

However, the programme has some drawbacks, too. Under the Act, the entitlement is for a household and not individual.

"I have 10 members in the family and the 35 kg rice that we are getting is not sufficient," said one of the beneficiaries. To ensure food for the family, he had to purchase at least 10 kg rice from market. Even the quality of rice was not up to the standard.