FOODY BABA: FOOD SECURITY BILL IN INDIA

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aving cacti with toppings of cheese cannot serve as ambrosia, unless you are a gourmand. Actually the rising prices of food items and rapidly increasing population have led to prognosticate such a dark future, leading to food crises. This burgeoning is at such a rate that a decade ago, the population which was estimated to be 100 crores, whenever we got to hear in television award shows and other sources, has increased to 125 crores. The basic needs of a human- Food, fire, shelter and education are touching the apex of their monetary value. These are now the piece of cake for those who earn at least five digit salary. And those who sleep on footpaths have to struggle for each bite and vagabonds have to burn their feet for a wad of wheat.

The National Food Security Act, 2013, an appeasing step by the government of India aims to provide subsidized food grains to two third of the population of India. Under the act highly subsidized food grains have been provided to citizens as a part of their right. Besides, pregnant women and lactating mothers are entitled to a nutritious "take home ration" of 600 Calories and a maternity benefit of at least Rs. 6,000 for a period of six months. Children from the age of 6 months to 14 years have been offered "take home rations" under this act. Moreover, the shortage of food grains will by covered by funding from the central government. The cost of the implementation has been estimated to be $22 billion (1.25 lac crore), which is approximately 1.5% of GDP. The enactment has definitely assured food to all, but it is just an ‘ink feeding’, no one knows how long will it take for the decision to jump out of papers and feed each home of the country.

No doubt, many of us would be dissident when we got to hear about the act, as there are many other steps like infrastructural growth, matching with developed countries or laws for the flexibility in investments, but for a poor citizen, the first priority is not the implementation of laws and infrastructural growth, but a promising government who stand by its words and hand them grains to survive.