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Food security has today become a reality after the Lok Sabha passed the bill on monday. The Rajya Sabha must now approve the bill before it becomes a law.
With this, almost 800 million of India's 1.2 billion population will now be entitled to 5 kgs of foodgrain each a month at subsidized rates. Subsidized rates are--Rs 3 a kg for rice, Rs 2 a kg for wheat and Rs 1 a kg for coarse grains.
The food subsidy will swell to Rs 1,24,724 crore in a year at 2013-14 costs. The Budget had pegged food subsidy at Rs 90,000 crore for 2013-14.
But one big question is whether such a scheme was necessary when several states are already running successful schemes.
While Chattisgarh has been the trendsetter with the enactment of the food security bill 2012 that covers 90% of the population, Tamil Nadu has reported similar success with its universal PDS. Other states like Madhya Pradesh has already announced the availability of wheat at Rs 1/kg and rice at Rs 2/kg to poor families from June 1. While Andhra Pradesh also offers rice at subsidised rates, Odisha has also announced a similar plan.
Congress-ruled Delhi, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Rajasthan have officially started allocating foodgrains according to the provisions of the National Food Security Ordinance from 20th August, 2013.
Lets take a look at what various states are doing:
