The government, it seems, has decided to go slow on the Food Security Act, something it had promised to enact very quickly, just a month ago. An early indicator of the changed approach was evident in the Budget speech when the finance minister said that a draft of the legislation would be put up on the website of the food ministry for debate — a clear speed-beaker. And then, on July 14, the Food Security Act was referred to an empowered group of ministers (EGoM) headed by Pranab Mukherjee for further discussion. EGoMs meet infrequently, form a fertile ground for policy differences (there are eight ministers on the food security EGoM including representations from all UPA allies) and take at least a year if not more to reach a final decision. The government could not have chosen a better way to delay the whole process into the middle of 2010.

This is, however, not an indication of the government’s reluctance to enact the Food Security Act per se — from all accounts the UPA is committed to this irrevocably. It is more a recognition of the deep problems that plague the agriculture sector, many of which have in fact been engineered by perverse government policy, some of which have been laid bare by a reluctant monsoon this year.

The challenge for the government in agriculture, to put it very simply, is three-fold. First, to ensure good production of all crops. Second, to ensure that farmers get remunerative prices for their produce. And third, to see that consumers get enough quantity of food at reasonable prices. The government, through various policy interventions, dabbles in all but the outcomes are far from satisfactory.

... contd.