Food Security or Congress Security

The real motive behind promulgating the Food Security Ordinance is not to serve the poor by guaranteeing two square meals a day. The ordinance has been brought as a tool for propaganda to tell people how serious is the Congress Party and the Government headed by it at the centre about providing food to millions of hungry poor in the country and thus influence the Indian electorates particularly in rural areas.

At the face of it, no sane person would disagree with the government policy of providing food to the poor and the hungry. At least one fifth of the total population in the country gets only one meal in a day. But if one looks at the existing system of subsidized ration to the poor one is left wondering if the food security scheme would really benefit the poor or it will fill the coffers of the greedy and corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.

According to one estimate approximately 75% of the subsidized ration meant for the poor through Public Distribution System finds its way to open market. It goes to mill owners, traders and even smuggled to Bangladesh and Nepal. On more than one occasion the successive governments at the Centre have admitted on the floor of Parliament that there is huge pilferage and swindle of wheat, rice and kerosene from the PDS pool.

At present the food subsidies is estimated at R. 85,0000  crores. The Food Security will add another Rs. 25,000 crores to the subsidy amount. If you believe the economists the food security will cost not less than Rs. 40,000 crores which means the government will spend around Rs. 1.25 lakh crores on food subsidies alone. Even if one takes a lenient view of the loot, roughly Rs. 80,000 crores would go down the drain- not reaching actual beneficiaries of the scheme- the poor and hungry.

Coming to the Ordinance, it was not needed in first place and it goes against the spirit of the Indian Constitution. The Union Cabinet can advise the President to promulgate ordinance on matters of public interest and urgency when Parliament is not in session. Here, the monsoon session of Parliament is just a few weeks away and there is no urgency.

Then the question arises why the Congress opted for the Ordinance. Under the Constitution the Ordinance has to be ratified by both the Houses of Parliament within six months of its coming into force. The Congress, thus, has thrown the ball into the Opposition court. The main Opposition party, the BJP and others including the Left Parties have opposed the Food Security Bill for its lacunae and pitfalls. Now that the Ordinance has been promulgated on food security, the government would ask the Opposition to support it in Parliament. If the Opposition parties disagree, the Congress will be quick to point finger accusing the Opposition of being anti-poor. For the Opposition parties it is left with a ‘Hobson’s choice’.

The Congress on the other hand is suffering from illusion. The ruling party had inferred in 2009 that the victory of the UPA was due to its rural employment guarantee scheme or MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme). The government should look into its own official reports and the report of the CAG which say that there are no many takers of the job in rural areas because of under payment. The labourers are paid just Rs. 40 for day’s work instead of Rs. 100. Rupees 60 goes into the pockets of local politicians, the Block Development Officers and a cut to District Magistrates and above. The roasters are filled with bogus rolls.

The food security is likely to end up in yet another gate of loot and corruption for the ruling class. Beside the point, if people are sure of getting two square meals without any effort they may shun work and depend on cash subsidy for meals. The money meant for buying food may go to liquor shops and petty gambling which is fast catching up in rural areas.

I agree to J Jayalalitha’s remark, “it is not Food Security Bill, it is Congress Security Bill”.

~R. K. Sinha