India To Launch $22bn “Right-To-Food” Programme
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The Indian government on Wednesday approved an ambitious $22 billion food security programme that will guarantee cheap food grains for nearly 800 million citizens; a move which critics say is a populist measure that will weigh on the country’s strained public finances.
“The cabinet has unanimously approved the food security ordinance,” Food Minister K. V. Thomas told reporters in New Delhi. The interim Food Security Ordinance is expected to become law this week but must be ratified by Parliament in its next session.
The Indian government on Wednesday approved an ambitious $22 billion food security programme that will guarantee cheap food grains for nearly 800 million citizens; a move which critics say is a populist measure that will weigh on the country’s strained public finances.
“The cabinet has unanimously approved the food security ordinance,” Food Minister K. V. Thomas told reporters in New Delhi. The interim Food Security Ordinance is expected to become law this week but must be ratified by Parliament in its next session.
Under the so-called right-to-food programme, nearly 70 percent of India’s 1.2 billion population will be entitled to five kilograms of subsidised grain each month. The food will cost between two and three rupees ($0.03 – $0.05) per kilogram for wheat and rice, compared with 20 rupees on the market.
The law includes higher allocations for vulnerable sections of society such as pregnant mothers and destitute children.
India is home to a quarter of the world’s extreme poor, according to figures from the United Nations, despite being one of the world’s biggest food producers and experiencing years of rapid economic growth.
About half of children below five suffer from malnutrition and a third of women are underweight, according to the Indian government’s National Family Health Survey.
“In terms of nutrition indicators, India is very far behind. The food security bill is an opportunity to address these gaps, and to create a political momentum for further action,” said Jean Dreze, a development economist and an honorary professor at the Delhi School of Economics.
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But critics say the focus on rice and wheat rather than more nutritious foods does not properly address the problem of malnutrition.
The subsidies will also strain government finances, with the India Focus think-tank expecting the food subsidy bill to rise by 45 percent to $22 billion in the first full year of implementation.
Credit ratings firms have repeatedly warned that India needs to take steps to control its deficit and such an expensive scheme is expected to further weaken Asia’s third largest economy. As it is, India posted its lowest economic growth in a decade and the rupee has also come under intense pressure, falling to a record low against the U.S. dollar in June.
But Indian Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen argues that India could easily make up for the revenue spent on the food security bill by ending tax breaks given to the gem and jewellery industry.
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