Food security bill is awaiting the Parliament’s nod. I am worried that this too may go the MGNREGA way. NREGA was earlier acclaimed as the most effective way of empowering the rural poor through guaranteeing 100 days of work and consequent wages to improve their living conditions. The UPA 1 could get the act passed two years before the elections and implementation started in phases as desired by the government then headed by Dr Manmohan Singh.
It helped the Congress party to win in a big way. Lakhs of crores spent in the rural sector legitimised through the parliament sanction became the game changer in Indian politics at the hustings.
But CAG has now found more than a lakh Crore of tax payer’s money spent under this scheme is not yet reconciled.Many NGOs have complained about the irregular spending and misappropriation by the middle men depriving the targeted poor for whom the money was meant.
All politicians right from the days of Rajiv Gandhi are aware that the delivery mechanism in our country is so weak and corruption ridden that nearly 80% of the intended money for the poor in the social sector spending, is siphoned by the middle men at the implementation stage at the district and block level.
Was it not the duty of the then government to put in place a leak proof delivery mechanism before NREGA took off. One can now see even a sinister design in social sector spending schemes of the Congress government. Get the required scheme passed in the Parliament in the name of social inclusion. Allocate huge resources in the rural sector without an effective delivery mechanism. Covertly help the middle men corner the resources. Implement selectively the scheme in the districts and blocks where votes are the assured quid pro for the wages paid. No necessity to audit the work done.Increase the number of ruling coalition members who get elected. In the last election the Congress itself was surprised at the number of its victorious candidates. Now we know it was NREGA mis appropriation that was working its wonders.
Once again, I am afraid, the Food Security Bill which is being flashed over may turn out to be the selective vote gatherer scheme. In the name of providing subsidised food grains to the poor ,which may cost the exchequer not less than a lakh Crore , in any form that is being advocated by NAC , PM, and the economic advisers, another vote gathering scheme is raring its head to race ahead of elections .
Even if the Bill is passed in the Parliament the government must explain to the nation the fool proof delivery mechanism that it has put in place before any money under the Food Security Act is actually spent in any district or block or at panchayat level.Even selecting of districts for this massive spending should be transparent . Criteria of selection should be made public through the websites. Social indicators of the population to be served under the scheme must made known to the nation. A hotch potch implementation with ulterior motive in the social sector spending should not be allowed to succeed at any cost.
The Food Security spending is waiting to happen. In the name of poor another massive fraud is waiting to happen . PM’s honest face we have seen in MGNREGA. Let’s not wait till CAG finds after next the election another big misappropriation of food security spending.
This time around we must become extra cautious. If the fool proof delivery mechanism is not in place, if the spending is not transparent, if the guarantee is not in place for the subsidised grains to reach the targeted audience ,the poor, we must halt the implementation of the scheme. Even if necessary a stay through the court order should not be spared.
This time around we should not allow the legitimisation of vote gathering social sector spending, if it is not transparent and effective at ground level ,through just a legislation . The poor needs supportive wages and food. If they don’t get a share of the economic prosperity of the nation, the social discontent will manifest in different forms, challenging the very existence of civil society. This vulnerability ,the government should not exploit for its own electoral prospects.
Government can wait till the mechanism is put in place. There needn’t be any hurry to rush with the spending. There is no large scale starvation death. The nation is watching the NAC & PM’s scheme of things. Let’s hope the government doesn’t force the citizens to knock the doors of judiciary for transparency and optimal efficacy in the implementation of the important food security spending , in the name of social inclusion.
