Monday: 20 June 2011

While I was looking at today’s news in TOI, Crisis looms as godowns overflow with grain stocks, I once again realized that how badly we are managing our own produces & the food security system. We all know that in the name of food security act, the Government does procure some million tonnes of food grains every season, but it turns out to be inadequate because we neither have efficient public distribution system nor we have appropriate storages.

As a result:

• Huge amount of food grains are wasted, in first place.
• Remaining grains do not reach the needy (due to corruption), for whom it gets procured.
• Farmers do not get appropriate prices, on contrary, food grain prices in market are high. Though the amount of food grains required & issues related to prices might be long debated, these very ineffective, corrupt food security system & distribution system are a major contributor towards the same, because
• Huge quantity of grains are drawn out of market, by the government and some of it does not reach to anyone in time, hence the procured food itself does not serve to its potential.
• As Market loses the huge quantity of grains, where as demand is not met proportionately, hence prices in market shoot up.
• Share of this increased prices, do not reach farmers because farmers do not have much bargaining power, due to lack of infrastructure to hold the produce nor do they have capacity to sustain & bargain patiently

Each of major stakeholders is losing in such scenarios. The underprivileged needy people do not get grains at subsidized rates, farmers do not get appropriate prices, yet prices in the market stay high and ultimately the Government loses to serve its function. So it is imperative that we get rid of this ineffective, inefficient and corrupt procurement as well as public distribution system.

Here I find the proposal of ‘Social Security System’ as right fit, which will definitely be

• Effective in taking the subsidies directly to the needy, it is corruption free. Citizens of the country will be directly benefited with subsistence support!
• It will be productive for the Government, as the intermediate loop holes will be gone.
• Once we decide to implement, it is easier to manage such a system transparently.

Social Security System Proposal

Further, as farmers too would receive such subsistence support and with Arthakranti proposal implementation ‘good infrastructure & credit lending system’ will be built, hence farmers would certainly be benefited to earn their living respectfully!

So shouldn’t such Social Security System be our right choice?

Author,
Bhushan Patil, Pune