The Modi government promises a 40%
increase in the supply of heavily subsidised grain as it seeks to expand
coverage under the food security law, a move that can inflate the subsidy bill
and disappoint critics who thought the new regime would abandon UPA's
entitlement-based approach.
Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said
monthly entitlement of 5 kg foodgrain per person under food security law was
meagre. "The focus of the government will be on providing food security to
all. With huge stocks of grain in the country we want to increase monthly
entitlement to 7 kg," he told ET in an interview. He said the food law
passed by the previous government was inadequate.
"I feel the Food Security Act
was prepared hurriedly. In my understanding during three months in government, it
does not have clear concepts," Paswan said.
He said Modi himself, when he was
chief minister of Gujarat , had observed that
the grain provided under the Act was too less.
Paswan was silent about the food
subsidy bill, which is already projected to be Rs 1.15 lakh crore this year, but
analysts said additional grain would cost a lot of money.
Tejinder Narang, a Delhi-based
analyst said the bill may rise by about 15% apart from starving the open market,
which would raise prices.
Pramod Joshi, director, International Food Policy
Research Institute said if the government is raising
the quantity of susbsidised grain it would also be looking at steps like
focusing on the poorest households and direct cash transfers subsidies
following the campaign to open bank accounts.
The issue of food security came to
the centre stage last year when Sonia Gandhi spearheaded the food security law
in the last year of the UPA government.
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