Food Security Bill 2013
Do you like this post?
Parliament passed Food Security Bill 2013 on 12 September 2013 with the approval of Honorable President Mr. Pranav Mukherjee. The main aim of Food Security Bill 2013 are to provide for Food and Nutritional in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
This was first initiated by NAC in the year 2010. Main Object of National Food Security Bill are :-
India’s high economic growth rate in the past decade has not been fully reflected in the health status of its people, with 22 per cent of its population undernourished per cent of children under the age of three are underweight, 33 per cent of women in the age group of 15-49 have a body mass index below normal and 78.9 per cent of children in the age group of 6-35 months are anaemic. These are disturbing statistics which point to nutritional deficiencies. The NAC proposal for a National Food Security Bill is perhaps the most important national effort yet to address these deficiencies in India.
It is at times assumed that the relationship between economic growth and health is unidirectional with improving economic conditions leading to better health. In reality, and as confirmed by recent research, the reverse is equally true and health is an 'economic engine.' That is, better health which is an important end in itself leads to and may, in certain cases, be a necessary prerequisite for economic development. Hence besides being an end in itself, the economic role of health and nutrition thus provides an additional and compelling rationale for public policy to support well targeted nutrition improving interventions in ways directly analogous to the support given for increasing other forms of capital investments.
The NFSB proposed by the NAC is a potentially revolutionary bill that can have a huge impact on the economy. Well crafted and effectively executed, it can transform the lives of people. The salient features of the NFSB proposed by the NAC are:
• Legal entitlement to subsidized foodgrains to be extended to at least 75% of the country’s population - 90% in Rural areas and 50% in urban areas .
• The priority households (46% in rural areas and 28% in urban areas) to have a monthly entitlement of 35 Kgs (equivalent to 7 Kgs per person) at a subsidized price of Rs. 1 per Kg for millets, Rs. 2 per Kg for wheat and Rs. 3 per Kg for rice.
• The general households (39% rural and 12% urban in phase 1 and 44% rural and 22% urban in final phase) to have a monthly entitlement of 20Kgs (equivalent to 4 Kgs per person) at a price not exceeding 50% of the current Minimum Support Price for millets, wheat and rice.
• The minimum coverage, entitlement and price to remain unchanged until the end of the XII five year plan
• Government of India to specify the criteria for categorization of population into priority and general households
• In the first phase, food entitlement to be extended to 72 per cent of the population. In the final phase, to be completed before March 31, 2014, full coverage of food entitlement (to 75 per cent of the population) to be ensured.
• Legal entitlements for child and maternal nutrition, destitute and other vulnerable groups.
• Reform of the Public Distribution System.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 Responses to “Food Security Bill 2013”
Post a Comment