Food Security Bill ignores Sonia's proposals

NEW DELHI: The Right to Food programme, a signature initiative of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, may not exactly make the party happy as several of her key recommendations are missing in the Food Security Bill cleared by the EGoM on Thursday.

While it limits the quantum of grain, either wheat or rice, to 25 kg per month to BPL families, the proposal to set up food tribunals for trying violations in the programme has not found favour with the ministerial group. As was the recommendation for direct cash-transfer to its beneficiaries.

In her draft bill, prepared and circulated among prominent UPA leaders last June, soon after Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the country’s prime minister for the second consecutive term, Ms Gandhi had favoured distributing 35 kg of grain, comprising a basket of items, at Rs 3 per kg to all BPL cardholders, plus a host of persons falling under various categories.

The list of possible beneficiaries was expanded by Ms Gandhi to include destitute and vulnerable households besides BPL families and those eligible under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).

The targeted households, the draft paper authored by the Congress president said, would include those headed by a single woman; an adult with leprosy, HIV or mental illness; bonded labour; destitute dependent on alms for survival for 20 days a month; vulnerable landless agricultural worker or self-employed artisan; elders living alone or with dependents; and, occupationally-vulnerable rag pickers, construction workers, street vendors, cycle rickshawallahs and domestic workers, among others.

All categories have been dispensed with by the EGoM, which has made it clear only BPL cardholders would be entitled to receive grain— wheat or rice — per month through the targeted public distribution system.
The Congress president, in her draft bill had also suggested including factors such as health, women and child nutrition for determining beneficiaries. Thus, besides advocating food security, she had also made a strong pitch for nutritional security. The EGoM considered the constraints in accepting such conditions, predicated the scheme on the availability of food.

To ensure accountability in the distribution of grain and to keep a watchful eye on the scheme’s execution, the draft bill crafted by the Congress president had recommended setting up tribunals at various levels of the administration in the states. This too was not accepted by the EGoM.

A commissioner, Ms Gandhi’s draft paper had said, would be appointed in each state to monitor the scheme, suggest changes, investigate scarcities and award penalties to public servants for failures which could be a fine of their gross salary from one month to five years for negligence, or imprisonment of six months to five years in case of “death or serious morbidity.”