Ensuring Food Security Through a Law in This System!
On the eve of passage of the Food Security bill, The National Food Security Bill, 2013, in the parliament last September one thing that was frequently being heard was that the adoption of this as an act will be a ?game changer' step in favour of the UPA government in the ensuing general election. In the midst of five years of rule of the UPA government, successive scams ---- 2G, 3G, Commonwealth games, Coalgate etc..----, economic stagnation, unbridled price-rise and reckless speeding up of the juggernaut of liberalization, being continually pushed and prodded by the capitalists, have resulted in the lives of the masses getting out of hand and almost in peril. Consequently the faith of the masses on this government has reached its nadir. In such a situation the Congress Party has through this act declared the supply of 5 kg of subsidized foodgrain per head to selected families covering 75% of rural and 50% of urban population (including those already covered by the Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme getting 35 kg of foodgrains per month per family) which will entail a yearly cost of `1,25000 crores hoping that it will to an extent help in recovering some of the declining credibility of the Manmohan government. Of course the big bourgeoisie is unhappy with the act as it is clear from their opposition expressed in their meetings and assemblies. They seem to be extremely perturbed by the fact that due to so much financial burden as a result on the government treasury there will be so much pressure, the subsidy for the poor masses will suddenly soar and consequently the efforts of the last few decades to restrict and control fiscal deficit will be disrupted. The noticeable thing is that at least in this case the central Congress government in spite of the objections of the big bourgeoisie stuck to their declaration made in the 2009 election manifesto and promulgated the Food Security Act. Although as promised the UPA government couldn't formalise this act within the first 100 days of formation of its government. Involving different NGOs, their prominent representatives, mostly those who were very vocal through the last decade on issues of 100 days Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, Right to Information Act, BPL lists, Food security laws etc ?the government formed a National Advisory Council under the chairmanship of Sonia Gandhi proving that from the start promulgation of the Food Security Act has been high on their agenda. Ultimately last September 2013 when the act was adopted in the parliament the opposition parties from BJP up to the Left parties none not only did not oppose it but in an urge to show themselves to be more pro-people criticized the government for the act to be inadequate. Of course as was expected their criticism could not and did not question the prevalent rules and policies of this capitalist system. The majority of them criticized the government for restricting the coverage to only the urban 50% and rural 75% of the people demanding that it be made universal. At the same time they reiterated that they will not oppose passage of the bill in the parliament. In fact, in view of the nearing elections it has been impossible for them to oppose.
Hence it is amply clear that however much these parties flaunt about their achievements while in government, talking of "Shining India", "Incredible India". "India's Growth Story", even these parties, which are devoted to the capitalist policies, are unable to deny that the presence of a vast mass of starved, famished poor people is still a stark reality of this country. It is clear from reports of different government and international organizations that the increase in productions of important foodgrains such as paddy and wheat achieved through the Green Revolution in several regions of this country have slowed down leading to stagnation during almost the last two decades. On top of it through the new economic policies big increase in prices of inputs such as electricity, fertilizer, irrigation water, and seeds have occurred and further control of Indian and foreign agri-business companies have been imposed. The government policies have encouraged the trend of cultivation of exportable cash crops instead of foodgrains. As a consequence from the resulting crisis in agriculture a series of suicides of a stratum of peasants are repeatedly seen to occur. In such a scenario an international organization while deciding the positions of 88 so-called developing countries on the basis of Global Hunger Index ascribed India a very low 66th position which only revealed the precarious condition prevailing such a position being just higher than the 25 utterly backward countries of African Sahara and Bangladesh in South Asia.
At present throughout the world the continually increasing economic disparity, the mass scale of prevalence of hunger and malnutrition is a serious agenda before the capitalists and the imperialists. During the 1996 World Food Summit and the decisions of the Millennium Development Goals, of which the Indian ruling classes is also part, it was decided that by the year 2015 the large scale prevalence of hunger and undernourishment must be decreased to such an extent that the number of affected people becomes half and in order to achieve that the problem of food security must be seriously addressed. But the soaring prices of agri-commodities since 2007-08 further increased the food crisis of the people, especially of those belonging to the poor masses of the economically backward so-called developing countries. At the same time the economic policies of globalization ?liberalization have further aggravated the inflammable situation by tremendously increasing economic disparity throughout the world. The manifestations of this is seen through the various outbursts of mass-revolts and the so-called "food riots", as referred to by the bourgeois controlled media, which started occurring during the past 3-4 years. This is also another serious cause for concern for the ruling classes. When on the 17th of December 2010 an unemployed youth Mohammed Bouazizi of Sidi Bouzid city in Tunisia was slapped by a police constable while selling vegetables on a hand-cart and in hopelessness and insult he took away his life then no one knew that that will be the starting point of a wave of revolts that would spread from Tunisia through Egypt up to different countries of Europe and then even the U.S. Owing to these reasons it has become very important for the capitalist and imperialist ruling classes at present to control through such food security programmes the increasing discord in societies emerging out of the incessant unhindered, price-rise of food articles internationally. Due to that very same reason during the passage of the Food Security Bill last September in the Lok Sabha Sonia Gandhi said that the bill will support those who have not benefited from the economic development or who are struggling against the curse of hunger and under-nourishment. Of course only when the question of crossing the electoral hurdle becomes imminent do leaders of these parties like Sonia Gandhi notice the sorrowful state of the masses. When turning the tables on all the results declared by the poll-surveys the Congress Party-led U.P.A. managed to win the 2004 Lok Sabha polls and form their government then it was explained that the relief programmes like the 100 days Rural Employment Guarantee had an important contribution to the win. Thinking in that same line the ruling party, the Congress Party, hopes to cash in on the Food Security Act in the present election and hence it has been termed to be a "game-changer" in view of the coming election.
According to this latest food security act the selected families will be given 5 kg of foodgrains per head and those covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme 35 kg of foodgrains per family per month. For the first three years when this act comes into force the rates for rice will be ` 3 per kg, for wheat ` 2 per kg and for other coarse foodgrains like jowar, bajra etc. `1 per kg. For the pregnant women and newly born children from the time of conception for a period of 6 months free cooked food will be distributed through Anganwadi centres and they will be eligible for ` 6000 of maternity benefits. For children from 6 months age up to those of 6 years of age free cooked food will be distributed through Anganwadi centres. For children from 6 years of age or class 8 level up to those of 14 years of age mid-day meal will be distributed on every school day. There is also provision for food to be distributed through the Anganwadi centres to meet the requirements of undernourished children who have been identified. Apart from this there is also provision for remedial action through a separate department to look after non-implementation of the act or cater to the complaints of the recipients. Owing to the presence of such provisions in the act the government is claiming that this has not only been a decision of providing food at subsidized prices to the poor masses but it is also the establishment of legal right of the poor to get food. In totality this has been referred to as the world's largest welfare programme.
But to what extent in reality will this act be able to ensure food security? Quite a few questions have arisen.
Firstly, this programme is limited to 50% of urban and 75% of rural masses. On 1997 the earlier universal public distribution system that is the system of distribution of foodgrains to all public through the ration or so-called fair price shops had been dismantled. The "BPL" status was granted to a much smaller economically backward section which means they were identified as below poverty level and distribution of cheap subsidized foodgrains arranged for them while for the other APL category people distribution of foodgrains of a much lesser amount and variety were started at de-facto government declared market prices. From the year 2000 onwards a section from the poorest were separately identified for distribution of monthly 35 kg of subsidized foodgrains per family. With these steps through the present act the percentage of eligible recipients has slightly been increased from those already receiving the BPL and Antyodaya benefits but still the extent of coverage has remained far less than the numbers covered earlier under the Universal PDS. Further it is also not clear that on what basis the government has decided these targeted 50% and 75% figures and what were the criteria for such selections. Secondly, when experts throughout the world through their researches have brought this fact into discussion that food security does not just mean providing food containing sufficient calories, it also means supplying sufficient quantities of vitamin and other nutrients the government is claiming to have ensured food security for the Indian public by merely promising supplies of 5kg of rice, wheat, jowar, bajra per head per month. From the start the group of ministers working on this has restricted food security within this narrow ambit. Moreover the rice, wheat etc are of extremely inferior quality. According to one estimate of 2008-09 the amount of wheat stored in the F.C.I. godowns at that time were twice that of the maximum conservable amount of 1.1 crore tonnes. Such excessive amount of overflowing rice, wheat in godowns have rotten and got wasted or like the erstwhile BJP-led NDA government have only been fit to be exported at cheaper prices for animal fodder to Europe. Even the foodgrains exported to some middle-east countries have been complained of being of very inferior quality unfit for consumption. Utilizing these foodgrains spilling over in the godowns the Congress government has become enthusiastic in fulfilling its promise of food security claiming it to be the world's biggest welfare programme. The third noticeable thing about this programme is that the subsidized rates that has been presently declared is for the first three years only. Subsequently the central government will declare new prices from time to time which is supposed to be never more than the prevalent Minimum Support Price prevailing then. Naturally with the passage of time the Minimum Support Price and the Procurement Price will go on increasing to maintain the government's procurement process. Accordingly as stated in this Food Security Act the prices of rice, wheat etc. will also go on increasing continually. Then in conditions of natural disasters such as drought, floods etc when the hoarders and black-marketeers become active and start heckling the people by sudden, exorbitant increase in prices, at those times will the food distribution remain intact? The act in such cases acquits the government from any mandatory responsibility. It states that other than in situations of war, floods, drought, cyclone, earthquake etc?when the regularity in supply of foodgrains or cooked food may get affected the central or state governments are compelled to meet the demands of eligible persons under the act. Further there is provision also of stopping this so-called guaranteed food entitlements in another roundabout way. It has been mentioned in the act that if the entitled persons do not get the declared amount of foodgrains or cooked food they will be given food security allowance. Through this the road has been kept open to fulfill the government's responsibility just by paying cash in bank accounts in lieu of the foodgrains as they do in the developed countries. Similar attempts are there in case of payments of domestic cooking gas subsidy payments into bank accounts on the basis of aadhar card. The other loopholes also are such as, in spite of publication of a number of instructions in the act regarding the necessity of sufficient procurement, proper storage and distribution network for proper implementation of the act with the very government policies resulting in the derelict condition of the public distribution system and the large scale prevalence of corruption it is easily imaginable that how much of the foodgrains intended for supply will reach the real eligible persons. For example similar provisions regarding children and pregnant women or those getting maternity benefits were started in this country way back since 1975 in this country through children development schemes such as the I.C.D.S. Then also it was publicized as a path-breaking welfare step. But in reality these schemes implemented through the Anganwadi centres limped along for decade after decades. Other than very slow, minor improvements in child death rates, or in the number of women and children becoming victims of under-nourishment and hunger there hasn't been any noticeable change. Rather through such schemes day-after-day on one hand a section of powerful, touts and middlemen have fattened their purses while the condition of the poor needy masses have remained almost stuck up in the same morass. The recent heart-rending incidents of death of school-children on eating contaminated mid-day meal have revealed many such instances of general negligence prevailing throughout the country. Similarly the large scale corruption on contracts of the 100-day rural employment programme has also shown that the connivance of the government officials and the influential of the villages could not be stopped by Right To Information Act or demands for open display of details of work or list of names of workers at panchayat offices. The food security act also cannot experience any different fate.
Of course on this very alibi of another unhindered opportunity for corruption, a sizeable section of the big bourgeoisie has also been vocal against the food security act. At the same time their criticism is also against the government taking up so much financial burden on its shoulder and giving so much subsidy. But this does never mean that they have been suggesting some other alternative for at least some minimum development of the poor masses. Their opinion is, the government should not have shouldered this responsibility of meeting the expense of `1,25000 crores annually. While putting up such a critical face against wastage of government money they have distorted facts on one hand and suppressed another fact on the other. Firstly, the total amount of ` 1,25000 crore has been formed by adding the already existent subsidy amount on earlier prevailing schemes to the expenses related to the extensions brought by the present act. Hence this total amount is not fully a new financial burden being taking up by the UPA government. Secondly, when the government gives crores of rupees of relief or economic support to the bourgeoisie who are always pressurizing the government for it, they eagerly accept it and use the public money to continue with their profit earning system. In the 2010 central budget itself the government gave a tax relief of ` 5,00,000 crore to a number of super-rich companies. Then bowing before pressure the government also allowed tax concessions during the settlement of the Vodafone tax evasion issue. But any grant, subsidy or support for the common masses is inadmissible for the bourgeoisie. In that same logic of theirs when repeated scams of thousands of crores of rupees occur as it happened through Neera Radia like lobbyists, ministers and capitalists while cornering 2G, 3G businesses they should have demanded that the liberalisation policies promoting and resulting in such loot be also dismantled. They cannot go against their own looting of public money but in case of food security act they try to obstruct it from the start on the alibi of corruption without thinking of how to stop corruption.
Recent evidences have shown that the imperialist capitalists are also staunch opponents of distribution of subsidized food through food security act. While leaving the country to attend the latest ministerial meeting of WTO on 6-7 December 2013 at Bali Indonesia the central commerce and industries minister Anand Sharma displayed a hard fighting posture. He said that on any alibi of containing subsidy in agriculture within 10% as per the agreement on agriculture of the WTO the Congress government won't allow the obstruction of this food security act. Even expressing objection to the WTO's "peace clause" of allowing countries like India to exceed the 10% subsidy limit clause temporarily for the coming four years, he took a dig at the imperialist countries and said that "for decades, "handful of farm lobbies of some countries" have shaped the discourse and determined the destiny of millions of subsistence farmers of the developing countries." But on the other hand he complained openly that, "The massive subsidisation of the farm sector in the developed countries is not even a subject matter of discussion, leave aside serious negotiations." In this context in order to explain the importance of distribution of subsidized foodgrains for the government he also added that " it is not only a sensitive issue for India but also a critical social imperative." [India not to compromise on food security at WTO ministerial meeting: Anand Sharma PTI Dec 2, 2013, 07.27 PM TOI]. In reality the fight of the minister Anand Sharma, a representative of the imperialist dependent Indian ruling class could remain limited to only so much of verbal duel. At the Bali meeting after marathon meetings continuing over day and night even though the temporary approval for implementation of the food security act could be earned but in return through a compromise the imperialists also seized the opportunity to squeeze out relaxations for passage of commodities through the ports and airports of this country for which they have been pressurizing for decades. A permanent solution to the issue of subsidized food distribution remained unresolved in vague promises. In fact the government representatives do not spell out in public what transpired in clear terms, specially when they surrender various rights and interests of the public. One thing is clear that whether it is the U.S. "global hunger and food security initiative" or the intervention of the FAO on the alarming proportions of unusual price-rise and hunger prevalent throughout the world, all these programmes such as the distribution of subsidized food, or economic support, allowance or food-for-work programme, according to them can only be short-term measures and allowable depending upon necessities of unusual situations. Their main aim on the other hand is to increase the total initiative for promoting agriculture along the imperialist-capitalist directed path with the help of the government, the bourgeoisie involved in agri-business, NGOs etc. The manifestation of this very contradiction got revealed in the WTO's Bali meeting.
Whatever happened, it is undoubtedly significant that in spite of strong opposition from the big bourgeoisie the Congress Party led UPA government did not shy away from the promulgation of the food security act. Of course they had been so active in view of the coming elections although the recent results of the assembly elections in four states and the surging propaganda of "Modi Wave" have cast serious doubts whether this act will be able to save the UPA from a good drubbing in the coming elections. There cannot be any doubt that the Congress-led UPA government have no sacred aim of eradicating poverty. After the independence of this country while sitting in the central government for more than half a century out of this 67 years the Congress Party has instead of uprooting the feudal system compromised with it and adopted the path of slow-going reforms from the top. Throughout the country the big and small landlords have kept the poor peasants impoverished, ruined and famished. Every year in drought or floods crores of the village poor get evicted. During the last 67 years undoubtedly the strength and lordliness of the feudal forces have decreased but it has not been uprooted. It is still in existence in a substantial proportion. Due to the simultaneous exploitation of the non-peasant land-owners, usurers and hoarders till now the poor peasants and agricultural labourers remain without food for a good part of the year. The development of capitalism could not liberate these poor people from the clutches of a life submerged in hunger, under-nourishment and poverty. Capitalism, especially for the last 20 years of globalization and liberalization, have evicted a large section of these people from their life and livelihood but has neither been able to provide them any new source of livelihood nor liberate them in any way from hunger and poverty. Through advancement in capitalism production of foodgrains have increased but it has remained outside the reach of the poor masses as the rule of capitalism is that whoever produces a product by his labour only the capitalists are its owners and it can only be acquired by those who have the capacity to buy it. Through this process of development of capitalism, especially during the present era of globalization-liberalization even if the lower sections have got some little crumbs, compared to that the disparity has grown manifold times. The poor masses will be able to get two proper square meals a day, their education, health, and food will remain secured, while such an exploitative system remains existent and intact, won't it be day-dreaming? The actual character of the Congress and all the other official political parties get exposed from this fact only that on one hand they talk of food security act while on the other they are keeping the old feudal system intact, pleading in favour of globalization-liberalisation which are in reality the main causes of the wretched condition of hunger and poverty of the poor. In fact with the start of the Lok Sabha election process and brightened chances of the BJP making it to the government this time, a former central finance minister, Yaswant Sinha has accused P Chidambaram of leaving a financially overburdened government expressing plans to delay even the implementation of the very food security act if brought to power. Their aim is not to liberate these people from the clutches of hunger, undernourishment and poverty. Their aim in reality is to provide some crumbs and lull the masses so that any explosive situation is not precipitated out of the alarmingly increasing disparity in this era of globalization and liberalization. Through such steps they intend to keep the poor masses more and more enchained to this system. If we think that such acts and programmes are merely the creation of the Indian ruling class then we are badly mistaken. The plans for such designs are originating from the centres of imperialist countries. The interesting thing is that the crisis of the Indian big bourgeoisie is at present so intense that a large section among them are unable to accept such a programme which in the ultimate sense is being adopted for their own class interests. Sunk deep in crisis they are now in such a condition that they are unwilling to part with even small crumbs of relief. Of course at the same time they are able to display such desperateness due to the dilapidated condition of the struggle of the toiling masses. They are not foreseeing any possible threat from mass struggles in the near future. Due to that also they are able to remain indifferent. For the present this indifference may not create much problems in their path but on the other this reckless attacks have started arousing the workers and poor, toiling masses. The more they become reckless the more the possibility of arousal of the forces of resistance to it will increase. It will arouse the working-class who will proceed towards taking up the leadership of the struggles for liberation from exploitation in society and perform the historic mission of organizing all the poor masses against this system. We may repeat that old phrase in a new way ---" the working class and the poor toiling masses have nothing to lose but their chains, they have the world to win".
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