The Congress Party-led Indian government is attempting to push a
Food Security Bill through parliament in a hurry. This bill may
be politically beneficial for India’s ruling party, but will
prove detrimental to the country’s poor. The ambitious Food
Security Bill aims to supply subsidized food to India’s
underprivileged population. It seeks to provide 7 kg of rice,
wheat and grains per person to two-thirds of the country’s
households at highly discounted prices. This bill has been
hastily approved by the cabinet and will be tabled in parliament
this week. The urgency to pass this legislation is
understandable from a political point of view, as it forms a key
part of the Congress’s pro-poor platform. In light of the
upcoming vital election in Uttar Pradesh (UP) and in the midst
of increasing inflation, slowing economic growth and corruption
scandals, the government must find a way to appease an
increasingly dissatisfied public. This effort to spread the
benefits of economic development to the poor seems laudab