NAC for universal entitlements

Moving a step ahead of the governments promise of cheap foodgrain to poor BPL families,the discussion within the Sonia Gandhi...

Moving a step ahead of the governments promise of cheap foodgrain to poor BPL families,the discussion within the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council NAC on Thursday set the tone for universal entitlements under the proposed National Food Security Act. It also called for special care towards vulnerable sections under the proposed law.

However,the deliberations also witnessed realisation on the part of NAC members regarding limits of availability of foodgrains on sustained basis to meet the universal entitlement requirements,which can limit the number of beneficiaries under the proposed law.

In this context,the NAC also toyed with the idea of rolling out the proposed law in stages as it was done in the case of the NREGS.

As per the deliberations at the meeting,the food security scheme is proposed to be implemented initially in 150 poorest districts of the country. There was also a proposal to create a buffer of 10 million tonnes of foodgrains over and above the existing buffer norms to roll out the law.

But,given the demands of rights based universal entitlements and the limits of the foodgrain availability,the NAC meeting did not finalise its recommendations for the proposed law and decided to hold another series of consultations to strike a balance between these two. Sources said a final view on these issues will be taken at July 14 meeting of the NAC.

Apart from the universal entitlements,the 10-member NAC sub-group on Food Security also suggested special care towards vulnerable sections in the proposed legislation at the meeting chaired by Sonia Gandhi. Prof MS Swaminathan and Mr Harsh Mander made presentations highlighting the need for moving for universal entitlements under the National Food Security Act8230;., said a press communique issued by the NAC. The Working Group advised that special care should be taken to cover the poorest among the poor namely,disadvantaged groups such as the aged,the infirm,the destitute,the homeless,the differently-abled,street children,primitive tribes and persons suffering from debilitating diseases such as tuberculosis,HIV AIDS and leprosy.

With universalisation as the thrust area,the NACs attention was drawn during the presentations towards the need to increase overall availability of foodgrain through stepping up productivity of agriculture and also larger procurement of foodgrains.

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Though the final call will be taken in a fortnight,the NACs thrust on universalisation of entitlements under the proposed legislation clearly went beyond the Congresss own manifesto promise for limiting the entitlement of cheap foodgrains to poor families only. Even the Presidents speech to the joint session of Parliament last year had mentioned cheap foodgrains to BPL families only.

The NAC was also informed about work done by the five-member NAC sub-group on Communal Violence Bill. This working group was reported to have held talks with concerned ministries and representatives of anti-communal groups on the Communal Violence Bill.