Right to Food Bill

By – Nikhil Pandey

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Inflation is a general rise of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.

It is generally measured in terms of percentage increase over a base year. In India the base year is taken to be 2004.

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Demand Supply Gap of essential goods in the market. More liquidity in the market.

Rise in prices of essential goods globally eg Oil

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SUPPLY OF FOOD

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Controlling demand side by increasing Bank rates. Remove Bottlenecks in Supply Chain and Support Agriculture. Introduction of Food Security Bill

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The National Food Security Act (NFSA) to ensure the availability of at least 25 kg of wheat at Rs. 3 per kg for every family below the poverty line [1]. It is a targeted program and does not guarantee universal entitlement [1]. The NFSA envisages a hunger free nation [2].

The NFSA has not been tabled in the Parliament yet and is in the drafting stage.

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The act does not ensure universal entitlement and the criteria for the poverty line is yet to be decided. The act covers access to food grains and deals only with the problem of hunger, but stops short of guaranteeing access to nutrition as well. Existing infrastructure for food distribution, procurement, supply and storage is in state of disrepair and needs to be fixed [3]. Agricultural capabilities: To ensure such a huge entitlement, India has to increase its agricultural yield significantly. It is still unsure whether the act would cover land reform or agricultural policy [4]. Will Inflation be curbed by the Food Bill?

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Food Subsidy: The most recent draft of the act which the National Advisory Council (NAC) has come up with provides for legal entitlement to 90% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population, that is, 75% of the entire Indian Population. This would result in a major rise in India’s Food Subsidy bill [5].

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Deutchse Bank report said the incremental...