India’s high economic growth rate in the past decade has not been fully reflected in the health status of its people, with 22 per cent of its population undernourished1. According to the National Family Health Survey 2005-06, 40.4 per cent of children under the age of three are underweight, 33 per cent of women in the age group of 15-49 have a body mass index below normal and 78.9 per cent of children in the age group of 6-35 months are anaemic. These are disturbing statistics which point to nutritional deficiencies. The NAC proposal for a NationaFood Security Bill is perhaps the most important national effort yet to address these deficiencies in India.
It is at times assumed that the relationship between economic growth and health is unidirectional with improving economic conditions leading to better health.In reality, and as confirmed by recent research, the reverse is equally true and health is an 'economic engine.' That is, better health which is an important end in itself leads to and may, in certain cases, be a necessary prerequisite for economic development. Hence besides being an end in itself, the economic role of health and nutrition thus provides an additional and compelling rationale for public policy to support well targeted nutrition improving interventions in ways directly analogous to the support given for increasing other forms of capital investments.
The NFSB proposed by the NAC is a potentially revolutionary bill that can have a huge impact on the economy. Well crafted and effectively executed, it can transform the lives of people.
The salient features of the NFSB proposed by the NAC are:
• Legal entitlement to subsidized foodgrains to be extended to at least 75% of the country’s population - 90% in Rural areas and 50% in urban areas
• The priority households (46% in rural areas and 28% in urban areas) to have a monthly entitlement of 35 Kgs (equivalent to 7 Kgs per person) at a subsidized price of Rs. 1 per Kg for millets, Rs. 2 per Kg for wheat and Rs. 3 per Kg for rice
• The general households (39% rural and 12% urban in phase 1 and 44% rural and 22% urban in final phase) to have a monthly entitlement of 20Kgs (equivalent to 4 Kgs per person) at a price not exceeding 50% of the current Minimum Support Price for millets, wheat and rice.
• The minimum coverage, entitlement and price to remain unchanged until the end of the XII five year plan
• Government of India to specify the criteria for categorization of population into priority and general households
• In the first phase, food entitlement to be extended to 72 per cent of the population. In the final phase, to be completed before March 31, 2014, full coverage of food entitlement (to 75 per cent of the population) to be ensured
• Legal entitlements for child and maternal nutrition, destitute and other vulnerable groups
IDENTIFYING THE MAIN ISSUES:-
The NFSB suggests near universal coverage of the population. The underlying logic of this, as understood by the EC, is the argument that typically the identification of beneficiaries in such an exercise is fraught with danger of severe under inclusion. Hence to ensure that the genuinely needy are not left out, universalization is the only way. The richer households will normally opt out of such schemes and hence with tight monitoring of offtake of grains, over time it would be possible to minimize leakage of foodgrains. The Expert Committee understands the logic of this view but is also conscious of the fact that this implies a massive procurement of food grains and a very large distribution network entailing a substantial step up in subsidy. Since the coverage proposed by the NAC is also not 100% and there are differential categories of entitlement, the
need for proper identification of beneficiaries still exists. The approach of the Expert Committee in examining these recommendations has been to secure the wholly laudable underlying objectives in a way that is sustainable and administratively feasible. With this end in view the Expert Committee has identified the following major operational issues which need to be resolved to realize the goals of the proposed NFSB:
• Given the current trends of foodgrain production and government procurement and the likely improvements in these over time, will there be adequate availability of grain with the public authorities to implement the full entitlements for the priority and general category as proposed in the NFSB?
• What will be the impact of such large government foodgrain procurement on the open market prices? This is relevant since both the priority and general category will be purchasing a part of their consumption needs from the open market.
• What are the subsidy implications for both the phases and can these levels be sustained in the future?
• Arriving at a clear definition of priority and general households and the methodology of identification of these households especially the feasibility of involving the Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner in this task.
• Given the inefficiencies and leakages in the current distribution system, identify the principal areas of reform of the PDS and the alternative mechanisms of reaching the foodgrain/subsidy to the entitled households
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