Food Bill - Is it really something India needs?

Food Bill is another roll of a dice played down by Congress to win support for various states. Food bill is something that needs but it cant be neglected that it might result in the deterioration of the fiscal situation. Should we take it as just another additional increase in expenditure or is it a cause for major concern?

For

- It seeks to provide subsidized food to 62.5% of the country’s population.
- This would make way for nutritional and healthy food which would in return increase the productivity of the people.
- This would make sure that the food is distributed to the needy and correct person which in return would help in forming a welfare state.
- It is a strong step towards removing the poverty from India as passing this bill would somewhat guarantee the food security of the poor people.


Against

- People getting access to concessional food are sure to make some wastage.
- The unique identification number is yet to reach every nook and corner of the country.
- The storage of the entire food supplement is of major concern.
- Agro markets will be distorted as the population that needs to be fed is enormous and financing this incremental burden (India’s population) will be next to impossible.
- Food bill is going to place India in a very appalling debt position in the coming future as India would not be able to cope up with the ever growing population.
- Making the grains available at different prices for different sections of the society is not a very good idea.
- It will make the lazy further lazy as they will get easy food by working little.

Food bill is a necessity but it will be absurd entity by itself!! Indian economy will be burdened with the excessive physical handling of the grain not to mention the financial sum of these grains. Conditional cash transfers are a better tool in this scenario as they allow the poor people to choose the products they want to buy. We should make use of the funds accurately and in an engineered manner so that at the end we don’t find ourselves in a position from where it is hard to recover.