The food security Bill will benefit multinational corporations and hurt genuine traders. The charter of the proposed National Food Security Bill (NFSB) is reminiscent of the socialistic era from the 1960s through the 1980s where the state decided how much a person needed and at what price that should be made available, irrespective of the cost of production. That model of nationalisation of grain trade collapsed with the demise of the Soviet Union.

It is time for the National Advisory Council (NAC) to introspect whether its pious thoughts on food security square up to an economic reality check. There are three likely scenarios: (1) universal coverage at 35 kg/per month per family; (2) universal coverage with 25 kg per family per month; and (3) partial coverage (say, to 11 crore families) with 35 kg per family per month.