Arvind Subramanian's factual and well-written article "The economic consequences of Prof Amartya Sen" (July 10), knocks the bottom out of Sen's Nobel Prize-winning theory of Redistribution through Rights and Entitlements (RRE). It shows that RRE was about the importance of broad purchasing power rather than the narrow physical availability of food. It is mystifying to see Sen forcefully arguing now, through morbidity-laden polemic, for the physical provision for one type of food, cereals.
Sen's other major insight was that development was about the freedom to exercise choice. RRE is, on the other hand, privileged paternalism. Amartya Sen, the academic, has been eclipsed by Amartya Sen, the populist advocate. My considered opinion is that the present Food Security Bill is an example of gargantuan populism that will bring economic disaster to the country. It also shows that when economists come to the government both as economic advisors or as ministers, their economics knowledge takes leave of them. Left to themselves, they will write chapter and verse against subsidies but when the political bosses want a system based on subsidy, they will sing songs in favour of it.
Sukumar Mukhopadhyay, New Delhi
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