UPA's food scheme rollout to take a decade: Chhattisgarh CM

Said his govt had introduced a lot of reforms and had worked on the ground for eight years before enforcing a legislation

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government would need another 10 years to implement the National Food Security Ordinance.

Singh, who was the chief guest at a symposium on food security here, said his government had introduced a lot of reforms and had worked on the ground for eight years before it finally came out with a legislation. "Where is their (UPA's) road map even after six years of working on the Bill," he said.

The conference, organised by a civil society organisation, Centre for Reforms, Development and Justice, was critical of the National Food Security Ordinance passed by the UPA government, while showering praise on the Chhattsigarh law.

Comparing the state law with the ordinance, Singh dwelt on the near-universal coverage of the state act, while the central ordinance covered 67 per cent.

"We asked ourselves, who do we want to exclude? We made a negative list comprising tax payers, government employees and people with more than four hectares and so on. That still left 90 per cent of population covered. Today, we have 4.2 million beneficiaries and not even 42 complaints against the programme," he said.

He pointed out the grievance redressal in Chhattisgarh was almost immediate, with the collector facing action if he was found not acting on complaints within a week.

Similarly, the state, he said, procured all the paddy it needed for the scheme and then took the rice to the doorstep of the fair price shops, thus preventing any diversion.

But the UPA has no road map on how it is to activate the ordinance. They would need not less than ten years, he remarked .

I took eight years to make warehouses and in deprivatising the fair price shops, he said.

Terming the public distribution system (PDS) a long term strategy to solve malnutrition, Singh said food security, without any nutrition was of no use. Criticising the Food Security Ordinance in a sort of curtain raiser to the coming discussions in the monsoon session of Parliament, he said, "Giving wheat and rice without protein and iodised salt is of no use. You are building generations. Six lane roads can come up any day. But this needs more care."

Speakers at the symposium included Sangeet Kumar Ragi, deputy dean, Delhi University, Himanshu Roy, fellow, Nehru Memorial Centre and Library, and Sunil Sondhi, Principal, Maharaja Agrasen College, Delhi University.

While Singh and the Chhattisgarh food secretary praised the food ordinance of the state, they were silent on the mid day meal programme there, especially in the context of the recent tragedy. Asked about it, Food Secretary Vikas Sheel said the meal programme is totally run by self-help groups, which include mothers whose children study in government schools. That ensures safety of food, he said.

But the grievance redressal mechanism activated in the PDS does not work for mid day meals at present, Sheel said. We want to extend it to students who can call up to complain, he said.