Food Security programme will stimulate food inflation: FKCCI

BANGALORE: Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry President P Shivakumar today said the Food Security programme will fuel food inflation and could make poor people "lazy" as food will be available easily.

The Food Security scheme entails a huge expenditure, which is to be met out of tax payers money, he said in a statement here.

After historical expansion of government spending programmes, reviving growth and creating manufacturing jobs are the indisputable needs of the hour, Shivakumar said.

"The lack of viable employment opportunities and support by the free distribution of scheme pushes BPL people into low paying self-employment which is in economic terms called as disguised unemployment making them lazy as food is available under these schemes. Skills are the need of the hour in a developing economy like ours," Shivakumar said.

The Public Distribution System also needs to be strengthened in respect of good storage and distribution facilities, he said.

Increased procurement severely dents government finances resulting in huge outflow of the tax payers money, he added.