National Food Security Bill 2011: Key differences between NAC and Govt

SUBJECT	NAC	GOVT
Rationale and preamble	To provide all citizens with adequate nutrition and an enforceable right to food	References to constitutional guarantees, judicial precedents, international references dropped
Definitions	Clearly defined several terms, including adults, children; excluded households, food, general households, malnutrition, severe malnutrition, starvation, household, health centre	At least 25 definitions dropped, many others modified
Food entitlements	4kg per household	3kg per household
Prices for priority households	Not to be revised upwards for a minimum of 10 years from date of notification	 Union government can modify or amend essential entitlements by notification
Life-cycle approach	A cornerstone, ‘shall be based on access to adequate and appropriate food throughout the life cycle of a human being from pregnancy to old age so as to ensure a healthy body and mind'	Dropped
Entitlements for women	14kg grain for single-women priority households, 8kg for general; maternity benefits of R1,000 per month for six months; support and counseling for breastfeeding for six months	Dropped
Emergency relief	Rations at priority-household rates for ‘emergency' and ‘disaster-affected' persons for a period of one year after the disaster	Dropped
People living in starvation	Double the grain specified for priority households, free for six months; ‘proactive identification' of such people, investigation of starvation deaths, starvation protocol to prevent such DEAT	Free cooked meals twice a day; all provisions for identification and investigation of deaths dropped
National food commission	To be created by independent public nomination process to monitor public servants and starvation conditions, impose penalties, will have powers of civil court	No public nomination, Union government will make rules, no penalties, no judicial powers
Child malnutrition	Free, ‘appropriate therapeutic foods', special care at nutrition rehabilitation centre	Dropped

Source: Mint research, 20.07.11, HT