These are difficult times for the poor Indians and British food security leaving the private sector would be rash
While British society awash in forced austerity programs, strengthens their attitudes to social security, public opinion in India is divided on a bill on national food security point landmark, which has been approved by the cabinet last month and creates legally binding obligations of the state to provide food to those in need.
The bill is supported campaign for a little more than a decade on the right to food, which led to the reasoning of the Supreme Court, public engagement and pressure on the government to fulfill its legal obligations to the most vulnerable groups in society. The Supreme Court has interpreted the right to food as part of the right to life, and the government promised to implement a draft law on food safety after the 2009 elections. The bill last month received Cabinet approval is an attempt to meet this obligation, the truth is sanctioned with a view to possible coalition in booths political gains.
Herepolicy failures in the Indian debate. Critics of the bill were quick to dismiss it as a gimmick electoral political ambitions, but economically wrong. As Finance Minister, Shri Palaniappan Chidambaram is struggling to contain the budget deficit, which raises questions about whether a costly program of distribution of subsidized food is affordable and efficient use of public funds. Commentators also suggest that widespread corruption and inefficiency of the public distribution system in India means that good intentions are not likely to result in real improvements in food security, and propose alternatives such as direct transfers cash poor. On the other hand, supporters of the bill argue that the food subsidy is still less than 1% of India's GDP, and contrast with other areas of public spending, such as tax breaks for businesses.
While there is a legitimate debate about the details - more than universal coverage, and if it is more effective than the objective proposed approach, which focuses on what the law calls for the priority "households - is not a fundamental requirement to mitigate the continuing scandal of malnutrition in a country that has seen record levels of economic prosperity over the past 20 years. In the end, food safety is an ethical debate on social services, a point made very clearly by Harsh Mander, one of the Commissioners of the Supreme Court of India on the right to food in its recent book, Ash in the womb.
yet clear whether the right to food is accepted as a basic moral principle or "meta-law" in a civilized society, the question of how best to do this right is to unite public opinion. Critics have reason to question the role of the public distribution system in India over the last 60 years, and it is recognized that radical change is necessary for the effective implementation of the proposed legislation . However, these are the days of the purchase, storage and distribution is complete, and the intervention in agricultural markets and food supply will be included in the demolition of the socialist past of India
- There are several reasons to be cautious about the blind faith in the efficiency of food markets - the scandal of horse meat that has gripped the British food industry is the last warning. Based on the private sector to source and distribute food in the supply chains more complex proved risky. The food system must take into account the interests of co-dependent consumers, producers, suppliers, distributors and state, united in a network of relationships, there is little reason to expect that the agro industry Food deregulated private serve the public good
For the Government of India, the lessons are clear - allowing the delivery of food security exclusively to self-regulation of private markets would be foolhardy, and the only viable option is to strengthen the Public engagement with the guarantee of freedom from hunger and malnutrition, while if it is necessary to harness the power and logistics sophistication of private supply chains.
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