Choosing between free rice and MSP

The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 is aimed at providing food and nutritional security by ensuring access to quality food at subsidized prices and its implementation by states is crucial for achieving the objective. The first-ever State Ranking Index for NFSA has placed Assam at 27 among 34 states and at 7th rank among 14 special category states and union territories which indicates the gaps in the implementation of this Act in the state. Amongst the general category states and union territories, Odisha has been adjudged the top-ranked state followed by Uttar Pradesh while Tripura is ranked at the top among special category states and union territories, Tripura stood first followed by Himachal Pradesh. The Index for ranking the states and UTs is built on three key pillars which cover the end-to-end implementation of NFSA through TPDS. These pillars are: i) NFSA- Coverage, targeting and provisions of the Act, ii) Delivery platform, and iii) Nutrition initiatives, states an official release. Two waves of ravaging floods have destroyed standing crops on over 2.35 lakh hectares of land in the state and improving the system of delivery of food grains under the NFSA will be critical to ensure that the affected families do not face any food shortage or hunger. Members of marginalized families which include flood-hit families migrate to other states in search of livelihoods and these migrant workers get access to rations under the public distribution system and their entitlement anywhere in India near the location of their workplace/temporary stay has now become possible after the country achieved 100% target under the Aadhar-linked One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) system. The portability of ration cards of beneficiaries under NFSA depends on the electronic point of selling machines (e-PoS) which are used to verify Aadhar-linked biometrics of beneficiaries for distribution of rations. There are 80 crore beneficiaries under ONORC system and with Assam becoming the 36th state to implement ONORC, the ration card portability for the entire country became a reality earlier this month. However, the link of the Aadhar-enabled public distribution (AePDS) portal of Assam is yet to be accessible in the State/UT FPS Automation Portals window of the NFSA dashboard. This means that the AePDS portal of Assam still has issues with accessibility. NFSA dashboard data show that Assam has issued a total of 58,05,275 ration cards which include 51,19,411 Priority Household (PHH) cards and 6,85,864 Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cards with 2,38,76,135 beneficiaries. Of the total ration cards in the state, 54,01,195 are Aadhar seeded cards and 56,72,790 mobile number seeded cards. Of the total NFSA beneficiaries in the state, 1,74,31,507 are Aadhaar Seeded beneficiaries and 6,444,930 beneficiaries are yet to be Aadhar seeded, going by the NFSA dashboard data. Biometrics of about 38 lakh NRC applicants are locked with the NRC authorities pending publication of the final NRC list after disposal of all claims and objections which explain the mismatch of Aadhar-seeded beneficiaries and total ration cards in the state. AAY families are entitled to 35 kg of rice per ration card every month while PHH families are entitled to get 5 kg per ration card every month under the normal Public Distribution System. Under the Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), launched in the wake of economic disruption following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, 80 NFSA beneficiaries are provided 5 kg of free rice/wheat per person per month in addition to their normal PDS entitlement. The Central government has extended PMGKAY till September but the rationale of continuing the heavily subsidized rice to all NFSA card holders when economic activities have returned to normalcy is questioned by many. Many argue that apart from the burden on taxpayers to foot the subsidy bill, the availability of free rice has led to withdrawal from paddy cultivation by many farmers in the state. In Assam, withdrawal from paddy farming by traditional farmers has posed a serious problem which cannot be ignored. Apart from free rice, farmers not getting the remunerative price for paddy is another factor for members of farm families looking for alternative livelihoods. Other major rice-growing states like Punjab and Haryana are not facing this problem as paddy grown by them is procured by the Food Corporation of India at a Minimum Support Price. The Central government allocated 763 lakh tonnes of food grains worth Rs 2.60 lakh crores in food subsidy for the five phases of PMGKAY from April 2020 till March 2022. Another Rs 80,000 crore will be spent till September as the Union Cabinet decided to extend it for another phase. For farmers in Assam, unlocking the huge amount of food subsidy spent on the distribution of additional free rice and utilizing it for improving the paddy procurement at Minimum Support Price and ensuring market access can be a better option as it will make farming remunerative and help farm families to be self-reliant.