StatsGuru: 2-September-2013

Does India need a food security Bill at all?

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The passage of the food security Bill by the Lok Sabha has caused questions to be asked about both its cost and its effectiveness. As Table 1 shows, Budgetary provisions for food subsidies have been steadily rising in terms of cost, and in 2013-14 are budgeted at three times the expenditure in 2007-08. However, as a percentage of gross domestic product, they have not altered so much since 2008-09, increasing only by 0.12 percentage points. And as a percentage of total subsidies they have never reached the level of 2007-08.

However, the utility of a Bill focused on providing foodgrain is more questionable. As Table 2 shows, while food other than cereals takes up 31.2 per cent of expenditure in urban areas currently, the amount spent on cereals is less than a fourth of that. Indeed, the proportion spent on food other than cereals has not declined since 1993-94 anywhere near as much as has the proportion of expenditure on cereals. As Table 3 shows, the proportional expenditure of rural India on milk and vegetables has remained largely steady since 1993-94, even as the proportional expenditure on cereals has declined.

Finally, even the basic need for food security has been questioned. The number of respondents to the National Sample Survey reporting they already got two square meals every day of the year has steadily increased until, in 2009-10, 99.6 per cent of urban and 98.9 per cent of rural respondents said they were eating two square meals every day.