Draft Food Bill may provide cash if grain supplies drop

To ward off any threat of huge grain imports on the government’s account in the event of drought or natural calamity, the draft Food Security Bill proposes to pay through cash or vouchers in lieu of grains or cooked meals to targeted beneficiaries.

According to the draft bill recently cleared by an empowered group of ministers (eGoM) chaired by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, the state governments will be responsible to make payments of such food security allowance to the targeted beneficiaries in the manner and time laid down by the Centre.

The final Bill is to be presented in the monsoon session of Parliament, which began today.

The beneficiaries which the food Bill seeks to cater to include priority and general category households, pregnant and lactating mothers, malnourished children, destitute and homeless people, migrants and people living in starvation.

The draft bill seeks to provide grains to households in both priority and general categories and cooked meals to all others.

The Bill, once implemented, will cover 75 per cent of the total rural population, of which 46 per cent will comprise priority sector households, below the poverty line (BPL).

It will also cover up to 50 per cent of the total urban population in the country, of which 28 per cent will be priority and the rest general category, above the poverty line (APL).

The draft bill, as prepared by the food ministry, specifically said that in case of short supply of foodgrains from the central pool, the Union government will provide funds to states for meeting the obligation to provide cheap food or cooked meals to the targeted beneficiaries.

In other words, the Centre will provide funds to states to transfer cash in lieu of grains if supplies from the central pool fall short of requirement.

Officials said supply of grains from the central pool could only fall short if the procurement of grains was less due to drought or any other natural calamity.

“The provisions categorically state if the requirement of grains under the proposed Act is not met, then cash will be paid,” a senior food ministry official said.

He said in the event of a shortfall in central procurement, cash or allowance in lieu of grains or cooked meals will be first given to subsidiary beneficiaries like pregnant women, lactating mothers, destitute, homeless, malnourished children and children up to 14 years of age.

If the situation worsens, this can be considered for priority and general category households as well.

The central government will need to procure an average 61 million tonnes (mt) of grains every year to meet all its obligations under the proposed Food Security Act. At present, its annual grain procurement varies between 55 and 60 mt.

Currently, the targeted public distribution system provides subsidised grains to around 65.2 million BPL and almost 110.5 million APL families. After the Bill comes into force, priority category households will be supplied seven kg grains per person per month, while general category families will be given 3-4 kg of grains per person per month.

Officials estimate that the country’s food bill will rise to Rs 94,987 crore, after the proposed Act comes into force, involving an additional annual outgo of almost Rs 13,000 crore.