EGoM approves draft right to food bill

NEW DELHI: An empowered group of ministers on food headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday approved an amended right to food bill proposed by the parent ministry knitting key points of suggestions made by the NAC and the PMEAC here. However, it is likely to be a long haul to the implementation of the Act which will now be referred anew to states for their inputs before being forwarded to the Cabinet and thence to Parliament before heading to a parliamentary standing panel. The entire process is expected to allow actual implementation of the bill not before next year. "We'll be lucky if the process is cleared by December this year," a food ministry official said.

The EGoM also allowed export of 1mt of non basmati rice conditionally from the open market. Each agency/trader is allowed to export an upper limit of 12500 tonnes at an MEP of $400/tonne. Central stocks would be tapped into only for very limited g-to-g exports to neighbouring countries. The EGoM deferred a key decision on wheat exports following disagreements over whether the private sector should be allowed to access subsidised wheat from the Cetnral stocks but allowed limited 6.5lt of wheat product exports.

The draft food legislation now entailing mandatory coverage of 75% of the rural poor and 50% of the urban as suggested by a ministry report to the EGoM will mean annual procurement of about 65mt of grain to service PDS, welfare programmes and the Act itself. In contrast, the NAC had suggested coverage fo 90% of the population to benefit both general and priority groups.

At that level procurement from the total marketable surplus of grains by the Centre would work out to slightly over 35%, itself considered high and possibly inflationary. to a food subsidy bill of Rs 83,000 crore. The bill for implementing the NAC's suggestions are pegged at an estimated Rs one lakh crore for an entire year. At present, the Centre buys around 29% of the total marketable grain surplus.Four years after a ban imposed on export of rice.