Narendra Modi Meet RSS Chief today, Modi May Discuss Lok Sabha  Polls, Lok Sabha Polls.

While the jury is still out on whether the Food Security Bill (FSB), crafted and drafted by the UPA government at the centre, would bankrupt the treasury, what is certain beyond doubt is it would bankrupt the ideals and moral character of the nation sooner than later.

Serpentine queues in front of the numerous community kitchens that constitute one of the cornerstones of the Bill would be an eyesore harking back to the Dickensian era. Children, both school-going and others, pregnant mothers, the destitute and others would line up both at lunch and dinner time with begging bowls in their hands, as it were.

This beleaguered government somehow believes that the only way to get a persons vote is through his stomach by giving him a free lunch and dinner.

MNREGA, despite warts, has at least had the virtue of not giving a man the fish but providing him the means, albeit limited, to buy the fish. But with elections looming large, the ruling dispensation had to go for broke given its dismal track record, especially in its second innings.

Small wonder, it wants to return to power on the nearly free food platform which the FSB is all about. Apart from running giant community kitchens. But their dietary needs cannot be addressed by community kitchens.

They need food rich in iron, protein and other nutrients and in larger quantities since the idea is also to take care of the fetus inside her. Lumping pregnant women with all and sundry is, therefore, another crude and ham-handed example of following a one-size-fits-all approach.

Running massive community kitchens would be a logistical nightmare and prone to corruption. Procurement officials must already be salivating at the immense and never ending prospect of making money on the sly by compromising with quality, over-invoicing and its concomitant kickbacks, etc. While, with some effort, a modicum of discipline in procurement of cereals and pulses can be brought about, handling perishables like vegetables and fruits, being a different kettle of fish, can challenge even the most foolproof systems.

The humongous cost of maintaining the food bureaucracy, and the now well-established phenomenon of losses in foodgrain storage and distribution, are strong reasons to rethink this scheme.

Once the food is ready to be served, the problem would be how to tell the intended beneficiaries from the charlatans. Will age-proof be demanded of the children before they are served? Will a person be required to queue up before the community kitchen of his locality or his place of work or any place at all?Food riots are all too common in the godforsaken parts of Africa. It could happen in India too if people accustomed to be being fed

without having to work for it suddenly find that the gravy train has come to a screeching halt for the nonce. The food subsidy would be well targeted and well spent if the intended beneficiaries, like pregnant women and the destitute, are financially empowered with direct cash transfers. If the aggressive, macho male head of the family boozes away the money.

source:http://www.firstpost.com/politics/