Trying to make the proposed National Food Security Act work on the ground, Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council will consider local procurement and distribution of food grains as an alternative to the “inefficient and corrupt” targeted public distribution system.
Sources said the thought emerged after the realisation that any delivery system on the lines of the TPDS will not serve the purpose of providing food security umbrella to the weaker sections of society. At present, the centre procures and allocates food grains to the states as per the BPL quotas fixed under the TPDS.
Procuring, storing and distributing the food grains locally could help the government reduce its dependence on the TPDS and involve the local community in the implementation of the food security law, said sources.
“The idea is to look at not only the macro level issues but to reach the grassroots and ensure that SC/ST, minorities and the weaker sections of society get the benefit of the right to food law,” said an NAC member.
“Governance and accountability at the local level is certainly a concern.” Herein, community based grain banks can provide a new model of local governance aimed at striking the root causes of poverty and hunger. There is an urgent need to encourage local production and local procurement, for which an investment needs to be made for setting up food silos in at least 100 places in the country, they said.
The idea found supporting outside the NAC as well. Food policy analyst Devinder Sharma said, “Food is produced in around 4 lakh out of the total 6 lakh villages in the country. I see no reason why the rural poor should go hungry.”
“Why don’t we come up with approaches that can provide people with capacity to fight hunger,” he said.