The following article was originally published on the IFPRI South Asia website.
India’s recently introduced National Food Security Bill (NFSB)—a flagship program that will provide long term sustainable food and nutritional security for the poor—was passed in the Lower house of the Parliament, Lok Sabha this week. Intending the bill to help about 67 percent of India’s 1.2 billion people—75 percent will be rural beneficiaries and 50 percent urban beneficiaries—the government is still identifying poor for inclusion in this large program, pregnant women, and lactating mothers who live in remote areas. IFPRI Director in South Asia P.K. Joshi has analysed the NFSB in a number of recent articles (listed below) using parameters such as:identification of beneficiaries; huge subsidy burden that would arise at the cost of investment; and sustainability of the program due to leakages and corruption in the system.
Related materials
- India Real Time article Q&A: Pros and Cons of The Food Security Bill by P.K. Joshi
- Live Mint interview High subsidy, PDS hurdles to food security plan with P.K. Joshi
- Governance Knowledge Centre article National Food Security Bill and need for a stronger implementation strategy by P.K. Joshi
- IFPRI’s Food Security Portal’s blog post Will India’s National Food Security Bill Help or Hurt? by Sara Gustafson
- IFPRI Research Outputs
