National Food Security Act, 2013
Prelims Syllabus: Governance- Policies, Schemes
Mains Syllabus: GS-II Welfare schemes for Vulnerable Sections of the Population by the Centre and States and the Performance of these Schemes; Mechanisms, Laws, Institutions and Bodies Constituted for the Protection and Betterment of these Vulnerable Sections.
Context: • The Economic Survey recently recommended the Centre to increase the prices which 80 crore poor people pay for subsidised rice and wheat at ration shops to trim the ‘bulging’ Food Subsidy Bill.
What’s the Issue?
• Under the National Food Security Act, ration cardholders are allowed to buy 5 kg of food grains per person each month at a subsidised rate of `2 per kg of wheat and `3 per kg of rice.
• This rate, known as the Central Issue Price (CI), has not been increased since the NFSA was enacted in 2013. However, the Food Corporation of India’s economic cost of buying and Distributing food Grains had Surged Since Then. About National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013:
• The objective is to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity.
Why this Recommendation?
• For wheat, the economic cost had risen from `19 per kg in 2013-14 to almost `27 per kg in 2020-21. For rice, the increase is from `26 per kg to `37 per kg. The NFSA also increased the number of people covered by the public distribution system (PDS). Together, they account for a rise in government spending on food subsidy.
• The food subsidy bill is becoming unmanageably large. While it is difficult to reduce the economic cost of food management in view of rising commitment towards food security, there is a need to consider the revision of CIP to reduce the bulging food subsidy bill said the Survey.
• In 2020-21, apart from the regular NFSA expenditure, the Centre spent more than `1.2 lakh crore to distribute free food grains to ration cardholders as part of its COVID-19 relief Package.
What is the Concern?
• Saving lives should be a greater priority for the government than saving on the food Subsidy. Given that the PDS played the role of a lifeline during the past year, this Recommendation is suicidal, says some critic. • The government should look for other ways of raising revenues (eg, a wealth tax, Property taxes, etc) to contain the Fiscal Deficit.
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