Want Food security bill be ready to pay indirect taxes

The food security bill gives people something for nothing and thus weakens the work ethic. Giving people virtually free food will keep them dependent on a ‘mai baap party’, trapping them into a permanent vote bank. It is a brilliant strategy of the Congress party at the centre — both the voters and the party will thus have a vested interest in keeping people poor and dependent.

The bill plans to distribute grain to two thirds of India’s population at a 90 per cent subsidy costing over Rs 1, 00,000 crores. To bring up the food security bill government will increase indirect taxes. If the same Rs 1, 00,000 crore were to be spent in providing public goods — roads, schools, power, and law and order — it would encourage entrepreneurs to start businesses, which would create sustainable jobs and raise the state’s tax revenues. Past experience shows that less than half the food in such programs reaches the intended beneficiaries. Hence, this bill might produce another scam when half of the 50 million tonnes of grain are diverted to the black market — a scandal that this scam tainted government cannot afford.

There are other serious risks associated with the food security bill. The fact is India just cannot afford this colossal spending. The latest budget shows how vulnerable are the nation’s finances and the way to its downfall