PDS and FCI
In the decade or so that
I spent in the Planning Commission, the Food Ministry, under which the Public
Distribution System (PDS) and the Food Corporation of India (FCI) run, was
always one among other Advisory responsibilities on Development Policy. It did not take very long to find out that
the fundamental problem with the system was about so called “leakages” abetted
by corruption: One soon learnt that FCI
was one of the most inefficient and corrupt organizations in the government. At
that time available estimates of leakage plus administrative costs ranged
between 40% and 55%. The other problem was of exclusion – some poor people did
not have access to a ration card or subsidized food, whence the horrifying
reports of starvation in remote and tribal areas of the country. This led me to propose the introduction of a
Food credit/debit card using smart card technology, which could be integrated
with the food for work program and also have the inbuilt flexibility to change
over to an income transfer system if desired (Planning Commission Working paper
5/2002).[1] Instead of dealing with the very difficult political
and bureaucratic problems that have stymied genuine reform of the food system,
the “Food Security Act,” proposes to deal with these problems with, ”A stroke
of the pen.” Unfortunately very little will change, besides providing lucrative
new opportunities for bureaucratic and political corruption!
Hunger & Malnutrition
What are the real problems that are
still awaiting serious government and NGO attention? In 2004-2005, 2% of households suffered from
hunger at some point during the year and about 25% of people were below the
poverty line, but as many as 45% of
children below the age of 3 (5) years were malnourished. If we leave philosophy and politics aside, these
facts suggest that,
(a) As hunger affects only 8% of the
poor, the food security bill and anti-poverty programs are not the best way of
reaching the hungry, who are dispersed across the country and in tribal and
remote areas. The hungry have to be individually
and geographically identified/ located. Once this is done it would not cost
much to eliminate this hunger through direct cash or food transfers, depending
on whether there are or are not competitive food markets in the area where they
live. Thus in remote or hilly areas it
is probably necessary to supply food.
(b) Malnutrition is a much bigger
problem than poverty and the causes are unlikely to be the same, even though
there may be some overlap. Anti-poverty
measures/programs are unlikely to solve the malnutrition problem.
Facts and Analysis
Analysis of the state wise 2004-5 NSS
and 2005-6 NFHS data led to the conclusion that the most important cause of
malnutrition in India was the abysmal state of ‘public health’ in terms of
sanitation, pure drinking water and public knowledge about the importance of
cleanliness (al la germs in dirty water, dirt and grime) and nutrition (basic
food groups etc.).[2] If this appears surprising, think about the
simple act of eating and digesting food and absorbing energy and nutrition from
it. A child or adult who is sick with
diahorea or dysentery can eat as much as (s)he wants but will not be able to
absorb it effectively. Recent medical
research goes further, to show that even those children who are living in
unsanitary conditions, but do not show any symptoms of gastro-intestinal
disease, are infected with germs in their intestines that do not allow them to
absorb nutrients from the food they eat.
Cross country analysis of
malnutrition data confirms the conclusions of the India analysis.[3]
The quality of public health,
as measured by variables such as access to better sanitation and improved water
sources, explains much of the cross-country variations in the prevalence of malnutrition
and the high malnutrition in India relative to other countries with similar
levels of per capita income and poverty.
Improvements in environmental sanitation are the clearest and most
effective policy-program tool for the Central government to reduce if not
eliminate the excessively high levels of malnutrition in India. The cross country compliments the Indian
Inter-state study by showing that female primary education, is an important
factor in reducing child malnutrition,
by helping spread information and knowledge about personal hygiene, sanitation
and nutrition.
Conclusion
The Food Security Act will have little or no effect on malnutrition,
poverty and hunger. Hunger can be
eliminated if and only if the government and/or NGOs identify the 40 lakh
affected households and ensure that cash or food reaches the principle female
(mother) of the household. An, “Elimination of Hunger Act”, with severe
penalties for officials in whose area a hungry family is found, could do this
at a small fraction of the cost. Child
malnutrition can be dramatically reduced, if not eliminated within a decade,
through a massive “public health” campaign: This would insure a modern sewerage
and sanitation system in every urban, semi-urban and semi-rural area and pure
drinking water, septic tanks and lavatories in rural areas.
A version of this note appeared on the Op Ed page of the Times of India, of Feiday 7th June, 2013, under the banner, "What we need is not a Food Security Bill but a Hunger Elimination Act. " http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/What-we-need-is-not-a-food-security-Bill-but-a-hunger-elimination-Act/articleshow/20465002.cms
[1] Arvind Virmani and P. V. Rajeev, “Excess Food Stocks, PDS
and Procurement Policy,” Planning Commission Working Paper No. 5/2002PC,
December 2001. http://www.planningcommission.nic.in/reports/wrkpapers/wp_pds.pdf.
[2] Arvind Virmani, “The Sudoku of Growth, Poverty and
Malnutrition: Lessons For Lagging States,” Working Paper No. 2/2007-PC,
Planning Commission, July 2007. http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/wrkpapers/rpwpf.htm
[3] Virmani,
Arvind (2012), “Under Nourishment in Children: Causes of Inter-country
variation,” Working paper number WsWp
4/2012, October 2012.
http://sites.google.com/site/drarvindvirmani/working-papers.
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