Understanding National Food Security Act, 2013
- Part 1 -

Sandeep Thoudam *

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India after 66th year of independence has not only seen development and progress but also becoming one of the fastest growing economies in the world. This accomplishment takes a shattering twist when one looks at the hunger problem booming within it. Out of the estimate 1.27 billion population, a total of 77% are considered poor and vulnerable, and millions of people fail to get two square meals a day. In the recently released Global Hunger Index of 2013, India ranked 63rd out of 120 countries and this report is quite disturbing because India is one of the largest producers of food in the world.

The existence of this problem is not merely confined to rural areas but also extend to urban region. To combat this perennial problem, Government did introduce some major programme such as Public food distribution system (PDS), the Integrated Child Development System (ICDS), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGS), Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) etc. This major programme fails to penetrate in every section of the society and hunger continues to thrive among the poor people.

The disappointment in the failure of this programme can mainly be attributed to the prevalence of inequality among the society, unsuccessful delivery of public services, pathetic liability system and infringement in the implementation of pro-poor policies. In this backdrop, the National Advisory Council (NAC) drafted a new "Food Security Bill" in 2010, the bill which is considered as the biggest ever experiment in the world for distributing highly subsidized food for any government through a "rights based" approach . The National Food Security Bill after much debate and analysis was passed and became a law on 12th September 2013. According to this Act, Food Security is defined as the availability of sufficient food grains to meet the domestic demand as well as access, at the individual level, to adequate means of food at affordable prices.

Why food security is needed in India?

The International food policy research institute (IFPR) classified the status of hunger into five category-low, moderate, serious, alarming and extremely alarming. India falls into the category of alarming. The most important aspect contributing to this development is the non availability of basic requirement of food. It has been observed that the consumption of food, in terms of nutrition and quantity, is lacking far behind. According to the study conducted by National Institute of Nutrition, the minimum per capita food grain required for an adult is 182.5kg/year whereas in India, the availability is only 173.6kg/year and as far as the protein requirement is concerned, the daily intake should be 50mg but the situation seems to remain stagnant, the per capita daily intake is only 10mg.

Further studies have indicated that consumption and expenditure on food grain have decrease up to a certain level due to increase in food prices and enlargement in the consumption of non-food item. Malnutrition and poverty are the main causes for the adoption of food security in India. Every year nearly 5000 children die due to inadequate food consumption. HUNGaMA report published by Nandi Foundation in 2011 found that 42% of the children under the age of five are underweight and 59% are stunted. Above this, a study conducted by Food and Agricultural Organisation found that 225 million people i.e. 23% of our population are undernourished and 260 million people falls under the category of above the poverty line (APL). The increase in the number of APL household is supposed to decrease the number of undernourished people but it is happening the other way round.

This fact is also supported by the London based organisation "Action Aid" which in their report highlighted that our per capita income almost triples during 1990-2005 but during the same period 5.3 crore more hungry population was added to our population. Malnutrition in India accounts for 50% of the child death and if seen globally, in context of child mortality under the age of five, India contributes 21.6% of total death in the world. It is also expected that in rural India more than 1.5 million children are at the risk of becoming malnourished because of increase in the global food price.

The nutritional status of children in terms of weight-for-height is also deteriorating both in urban and rural areas. Economically malnutrition, according to World Bank report, brings down 3% of the country GDP annually. By 2015, it is expected that around 900 million people will fall into extreme poverty and India is likely to handle more than 300 million people.

Poverty line has declined remarkably in terms of percentage from over 60% during 1951 to about 26% in 2011 but there is no significant improvement in malnutrition especially among the deprived and marginalised children. The National Family Health Survey report in 2005-2006 states that the number of anaemic women and children has increased tremendously both in rural and urban areas. The brunt of anaemic is shattering, in pregnant women it contribute 20% of the child mortality.

National food security act (NFSA), 2013

NSFA gives legal rights to subsidised food grain to 67% of our population and covers 75% of rural and 50% of the urban population. Altogether it covers two third or 810 million of our population. According to this act, it guarantees to provide five kilogram of food grains per month at Rs3, Rs2, and Rs1 per kg for rice, wheat and coarse grain, respectively. The poorest of the poor continue to be covered under AAY and get 35kg of food grain per month. It also provides prerequisite for pregnant women and lactating mothers to get nutritious meal and maternity benefit of at least Rs 6000 for six months. In case of children, it covers free mid day meals at school in the age group of 2-16. And in case of non-supply of the entitled quantities of food grain or meal to the entitle person then he is eligible to receive food security allowance from the concerned state government.

The act aims to address basic issues that need immediate attention and no one can question the noble intention behind it. But in order to make this act successful, an estimate of 61.2 million tonnes of food grain is required (including the grains of other welfare scheme) and a huge amount of money. It is to be seen whether the farmers will be able to provide the huge quantity of food grains required by the government and if so, will there be enough storage facilities to store the food grains. The food grains procured by the government are to be provided to the beneficiaries through Public Distribution System (PDS).

The ultimate question is with so much flaws and scam occurring within PDS, will it benefit the poor people and remove hunger. So, in order to have a comprehensive idea about the authenticity of NFSA, it is necessary to look into the problem occurring within the farmer community in the production of food grain, availability and capacity of storage facilities, working of the PDS and its fiscal implication.

Farmers issue

The prevailing situation in the contemporary farming community needs serious attention in order to produce 61.2 million tonnes of food grain. Food and non- food prices have increased significantly in recent years and it's becoming unaffordable for the poor families to cope with the rising price. The expenditure on cultivation has increased extensively but the agricultural income has not increased in proportion with its input. In recent years, real wages in agriculture has increased much faster than the real growth in gross value added in agriculture. During the period (2007-2011), real farm wages recorded an average growth rate of 6.8% while real growth in agriculture was only 3.3%.

This has put serious distress among the farmers. Another equally significant factor is the energy. Energy plays an important role in determining the output of production. The increase in the price of the energy has affected the food prices in two ways. Firstly, the rise in the price of petroleum product motivates the government and the corporate sector to go for producing bio-fuel. The policy for production of bio diesel from Jatropha plant and ethanol from molasses has already been initiated. This will seriously reduced the land area under cultivation for the production of food grain.

Secondly, the raising price in the inputs likes fertilizers, pesticides and cost of mechanical cultivation has made agricultural production very expensive. The share of mechanical and electrical power in the total power consumption has increase significantly from 39.63% in 1972-1973 to 86% in 2005-2006, while corresponding human and animal power has come down from 60.37% to 13.4% during the same period.

In recent years, with the increase of income and changes in the dietary pattern, the middle class families have been spending more on horticulture and livestock product as it provides more nutrients. And on the other hand the poor farmers whose income remains more or less stagnant see this as means to earn more income. Marginal farmers change to more income oriented occupation to support their household.

Considering this, there is a possibility that the production of horticulture or livestock production may increase tremendously but the whole purpose of food security will be useless as this product are costly and poor people will not be able to afford it. This current development will have serious effect on the sustainability of food security. Not only it will reduce the area under cultivation but it will also increase the demand for feed grain and subsequently increasing the cereal prices, affecting the poor household.

Another critical issue which need to be focused for food security is the diversion of cultivated land towards wood farming. High GDP growth is leading to the increase consumption of wood and wood products like furniture, timber, pulp and paper. The cultivation of poplar tree in some states of northern India has turned out to be more remunerative than crop cultivation. And many farmers are leaning towards as it is more profitable.

To be continued...