 "States take a bite out of Centre's food security bill")
It is common for state governments to announce populist schemes and open their coffers ahead of elections, but the idea of distributing food cheap has been taken to an altogether new level. In the last few months as many as seven major states have announced programmes with populist names such as 'Manna Biyyam' (Our Rice, in Andhra Pradesh) and Mukhyamantri Annapurna Yojana (Chief Minister's Food Scheme, in Madhya Pradesh), to distribute inexpensive food among the poor. Chhattisgarh has gone a step further and enacted a law to guarantee food to the poor, thus becoming the first state in the country to have such a law in place. Delhi has started its own version of providing food at cheap rates by starting community kitchens that sell a whole meal at Rs 15.
So what makes this idea click with the states? The obvious answer is that it's a sure-shot vote catcher. The experience of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala proves this. But more than that, it is simple economics and the possibility of a reduced subsidy burden that has prompted state after state to introduce its own version of the food security bill.
The fact that the draft NFSB does not bar states from formulating their own food-based schemes makes it all the more attractive. The draft Bill clearly states that "notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the state government may continue with or formulate food or nutrition-based plans or schemes providing for benefits higher than the benefits provided under the Food Bill, from its own resources".
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But then how are the food schemes launched by the states different from the one proposed by the Centre? Biraj Patnaik, principal adviser to the Commissioners of Supreme Court on the Right to Food, explains: "The major difference is that many states are covering more than the proposed numbers that the bill seeks to cover. The current entitlement for grain is 35 kg per month per family for people below the poverty line as opposed to 25 kg under the draft central legislation. Effectively, therefore, it will represent a reduction both in the quantity and the coverage for a very large section of the population."
While NFSB seeks to cover 67 per cent of the country's population - that is 80-85 crore of India's total population of 120 crore -, in most states the coverage under the schemes is much higher. In Andhra Pradesh, for example, Kiran Kumar Reddy's 'Manna Biyyam' programme plans to cover almost 90 per cent of the state's population; in Tamil Nadu, the coverage is around 100 per cent; in Chhattisgarh, almost 90 per cent of the population is covered under the newly-enacted law; in Karnataka, 80-90 per cent of the population is proposed to be covered under the new scheme.
The numbers are much more than the existing Central government estimates of poor in various states. "The state programmes exclude a much smaller population than the 33 per cent proposed under NFSB," says an expert. In most cases, the state programmes identify the beneficiaries on the basis of households, while in NFSB it is individual entitlements.
The basket of commodities being offered at cheap rates is also different. While the Centre's NFSB only provides for wheat or rice or coarse cereals, states have gone a step forward and are providing items like edible oil, salt and pulses too. In Andhra Pradesh, apart from rice, tur dal, tamarind, sugar, iodised salt, wheat, wheat flour, palmolein oil, turmeric and chilli powder are being supplied as a "package" at a total cost of Rs 185 as against the market price of Rs 297.
In Chhattisgarh, under the food law, the state government is providing 2 kg of pulses at Rs 10 per kg, 2 kg of chana at Rs 5 per kg and 2 kg of iodised salt free of cost to all families below the poverty line and to those covered under Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY). This is apart from wheat and rice. In Madhya Pradesh, too, the state food scheme provides for free salt along with wheat or rice.
The third major difference is free cooked meal programmes along with grain. While Tamil Nadu is providing cooked meal for Rs 5 per meal in and around Chennai, in Chhattisgarh, cooked meal is being given through the 'Daal-Bhaat' centres to the destitute and the homeless, again at the rate of Rs 5. In Delhi, the state government is providing cooked meal at a subsidised rate of Rs 15. NFSB is silent on this.
Most states have also introduced major reforms in the distribution and procurement network through measures like biometric ration cards, GPS tracking of vehicles supplying food, end-to-end computerisation of the public distribution scheme, or PDS, chain, vigilance committees and non-governmental organisations to monitor the distribution of food et cetera.
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Chhattisgarh is expected to spend Rs 2,311 crore annually on its scheme, while Madhya Pradesh will shell out around Rs 1,000 crore, Odisha around Rs 200 crore and West Bengal around Rs 500 crore. (At present, West Bengal is supplying rice at Rs 2 per kg only in the tribal-dominated Junglemahal areas). The Centre's decision to lower the price of wheat and rice to be distributed through the food security bill by more than half the current price has helped.
As and when the Centre drops the price of grain sold through PDS to Rs 3 per kg for rice, Rs 2 per kg for wheat and Rs 1 per kg for coarse cereals - as formulated in the draft NFSB - states will stand to gain much. In one go, their burden will come down to Rs 1-2 per kg.
In many states, like Odisha, governments have raised the mandi tax by 3-4 per cent in the last one year to make grain procurement by the Centre costly. This adds to the Centre's subsidy burden, while states earn more revenue. This gain can then be passed on to the consumers by lowering the price for them and minimising the burden on the state's exchequer.
"It's a zero-sum game for the states and they are indulging in populism at the expense of the Central government," says Gulati. "All this will be eliminated if the Centre decides to distribute cash in lieu of foodgrain," he adds. He said these are all pre-election stunts and how costly this will prove for the states in the long run remains to be seen.
States have also been encouraged to launch their own food security programmes because of the steady increase in grain production in the last few years. Figures from the department of agriculture show that between 2007-08 and 2011-12, production of rice in Chhattisgarh rose by 11 per cent; in Tamil Nadu, by 37 per cent; and in Karnataka, by almost 9 per cent. Similarly, wheat production in Madhya Pradesh rose by a staggering 82 per cent, making it among the leading wheat producing states.
Not only do states have surplus grain, they have also managed to make their procurement system efficient. Between 2007-08, and 2012-13, rice procurement in Chhattisgarh rose by a staggering 90 per cent to almost 7.12 million tonne. In Madhya Pradesh, wheat procurement increased at a similar proportion.
But it is not a smooth ride for states all the way. Karnataka has had to delay its ambitious programme to distribute 30 kg of rice at Rs 1 to families below the poverty line by a month because it could not get adequate supply from the Centre. The states know that the success of their individual schemes ultimately depends on the National Food Security Bill.