Both the Upper House and the Lower house have passed the National Food Security Bill the pet project of Ms Sonia Gandhi president of the Congress party and a Member of Parliament. The bill aims to provide 5 kilogrammes of rice wheat and coarse grains at a subsidized rate of Rs 3, Rs 2 and Re 1 respectively through the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). It is estimated by the government that the bill will cost 1, 24,723 crores per year. The bill while covering all the households in the extremely poor households Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) category will cover only 71% in the above the poverty line category (APL). In all the bill it is said will support 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population. The implications of this bill in terms of increasing fiscal deficit and the concurrent inflation, increasing current account deficit and the effect on a already depreciating rupee have been discussed. This paper raises doubts and highlights some of the unanswered questions of this bill. The paper concludes by saying that the bill should focus on the limitations to make the implementation process a smooth one.
