It is well-known that with tons and tons of food grains rotting for want of better preservation and an efficient distribution system, India’s infants die or remain stunted for want of nutrition. Every fourth Indian goes to sleep hungry. The fault lies in the last-mile delivery of food to the hungry. Still our ambitious Food Security Bill is so apathetic towards this very aspect of food distribution. The chapter XII of the draft simply passes this great responsibility to same discredited “local authorities”. The “local authorities” consist of disinterested civil servants who are liable to be transferred at day’s notice and have no stake in the local community. A provision exists in the Constitution in the form of Article 243G, by which the most uninterested and inefficient “local authorities” is mandated to be replaced by the democratically elected “local self-government institutions” like panchayats and nagarpalikas. These institutions of self government have a stake in making food reach their constituents and are best placed to ensure that food goes to the waiting mouths.
Dr Mookhi Amir Ali
Mumbai