Food Security Act

The newly launched National Food security Act promises to give 35kg of grain every month at Rs 3/kg to every poor family in the 200 poorest districts of the country. This is a laudable initiative. However like all other social welfare programs this is bound to score low in term of effectiveness due to the involvement of multiple layers before it reaches the beneficiary.

With a host of problems like identification of the beneficiaries, ensuring stocks reach the districts and taluks every month on time, vigilance on the private distributors to ensure there is no shifting of the supplies to the open market etc are real problems on the ground. To add to all this interference of local politicos and their influence on the distribution process is a hindrance.

Direct cash transfer programs underway in Mexico and Brazil branded as Oportunidades and Bolsa Familia are considered to be successful in reducing corruption, elimination of intervening bureaucracy and ensuring that the government subsidy reaches the beneficiary. Results show that Oportunidades and Bolsa Familia have increased school enrollment and contributed to healthy child development amongst other successes.

Government needs to partner with UID project and hasten the process of issuing identification cards for the real poor along with a bank account to the family. We need to put cash in the hands of the poor directly to ensure effectiveness of the Act.Else there are middle men, traders, bureaucrats and politicians waiting to take the food away from the plates of the poor.

From just Planning to a Development commission

Minister Kamalnath’s outburst on the role of planning commission is justified. The commission played a key role in the license raj and quota days where it controlled all central ministerial and state allocations and advised on them on aspects of investments, prioritization of development programs etc . The question is in the current liberalized economic context do we need such centralized planning institutions anymore?

In many ways the planning commission is a vestige of the License raj, Socialistic economic agenda of independent India, it should be given a new name and agenda or should be wound down. Planning commission in some ways has contributed to the restrictive regulatory environment that existed in the country up to the early 1990s and some of those still exist.

With the private sector fully involved in the development process and government actively disinvesting the role for a centralized commission is rapidly becoming less relevant.

The central ministries and state governments today enjoy financial autonomy and they should be further handed over authority to decide on the investments, modes of raising finance etc and hasten the overall development agenda.

Montek Singh and other capable colleagues of his need to be moved to a development commission and given the target of executing large scale development projects than producing voluminous reports on all and sundry aspects.

It is typical of Indian Politicians to get into as many positions of influence as possible while in power. Sharad Pawar is no exception. Since he got out of his position as BCCI president he was waiting for the ICC chairmanship and has managed to get it.

He has little interest in managing the all important portfolios of Agriculture, Food and Consumer affairs and is now seeking reduction in work. He is presumably tired of work but at the same time has no problems in taking over the more glamorous ICC Chairman role.

Mr.Pawar has done nothing significant to control the inflationary environment nor has done anything to improve the ineffective and inefficient PDS system. The ongoing food inflation of 13.91% is having severe impact on the common man with increasing prices of essential food items and no signs respite, also there are indications that inflation is spreading to other sectors as well. What is worrying is lack of a clear strategy to tame inflation and a distracted leadership under Pawar.

The prime minister would do a great favor to the nation by dis-engaging Pawar from all his portfolios and keep him as a cabinet minister without portfolio if for political compulsions.

Sharad Pawar at a point in time was a serious contender for occupying 7 Race course road, over the years he has lost credibility on lot of issues and also has failed to make an impact on policy front. I am not a great admirer of Bal Thackery but his comment that Cricket would cost Sharad Pawar politically is right and I am sure Pawar will no more be a force he was once in the Indian Political scenario.