Food Security: The National Food Security Act

The World Food Summit defines food security as people’s physical and economic access to adequate, safe and healthy food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for leading an active and healthy life. To ensure food security for Indian families living Below Poverty Line (BPL), the UPA government has plans to enact the National Food Security Act.

The poverty line in developing countries, as per the World Bank, is US$ 1/day/person. According to this definition, more than 75 percent of Indian population is BPL.  The government of India, however, has set the poverty line for urban areas at Rs.296/month and poverty line for rural areas at Rs.276/month. Several central government-sponsored surveys and commissions for estimating the country’s poor population have revealed results varying from 27 percent to 77 percent. 

Food Security: Enactment of the National Food Security Act

The Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has assured the people of India that the first draft of the Food Security Bill is being developed and will soon be placed for greater scrutiny and consultation.

The Food Security Act, which aims to provide affordable food supply to the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and BPL families, will also provide safe and healthy food supply for consumers. It will also protect consumers from unfair trade practices and exploitation. Besides, the state governments will also be obliged to recognize the deprived sections of the society and develop policies and divert resources to fulfil their food needs.

The bill also proposes to offer 25 kg of wheat or rice for BPL and AAY families at a price of Rs.3 per kg. The Prime Minister stressed that the priority of the government will be the well-being of farmers and the agricultural sector.