Operation Idli

The eatocracy, which seeks to transform the public discourse on food with its aristocratic insights into fine dining ‘n’ wining, may sniff at it, but Tamil Nadu’s Operation Idli is no fluffy matter.

With elections drawing closer, the politics of food has occupied centre-stage at the Centre as well in the states. Food prices are rising across the country and it needs no genius to predict that food inflation is going to be a key issue in several states as they go to the polls in the next few months, and in the general elections next year.

New Delhi is understandably jittery. It hopes that its Brahmastra, the proposed National Food Security Bill that legally entitles 67 per cent of the population (including 75 per cent rural and 50 per cent urban) for subsidised food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System, will be passed in the ongoing Budget session. Meanwhile, the real colour and action is in the states.

Cheap rice has long been the staple of India’s food politics. Marudhur Gopalan Ramachandran, aka MGR, the reel-life super star who was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for three successive terms, rolled out the much-talked about free midday-meal scheme for schoolchildren to tackle poverty, malnutrition and illiteracy, all at the same time. When in power, the DMK has also had a go at bringing down the price of idli and food politics.

Now, Tamil Nadu, under MGR’s protégé J Jayalalithaa, has taken the matter to a different level by launching a full-fledged idli initiative. In recent days, there has been a string of reports about the Tamil Nadu government-supported budget canteens that serve idlis at one rupee a piece. There is also sambar-rice at Rs 5 and curd-rice at Rs 3 per plate. The canteens, launched by the Chennai Municipal Corporation, are run by local women’s self-help groups. Some 1,000 such canteens are reportedly planned in Chennai alone.

Unsurprisingly, these low-cost eateries called Amma Unavagam (Amma’s eatery) are winning the hearts, minds and stomachs of people. They are pitched at low-income groups — security guards,  drivers, domestic helps and daily wage earners in general. But one news report recently noted that the odd  BPO professional has been spotted tucking into these one-rupee idlis. It is easy to understand why. Sitting thousands of miles away in Delhi, even I can feel the sensory punch of the mouth-watering fare at Amma’s eateries.

At the time of writing, it is not known how much these cut-price idlis will finally cost the Tamil Nadu exchequer and whether they will deliver the intended outcomes. Maharashtra’s experience with government-subsidised Jhunka–Bhakar, a traditional Marathi dish, does not raise high hopes.

The Tamil Nadu government also provides 20 kilos of free rice to nearly 1.84 crore ration card holders in the state, in addition to tur dal and urad dal at a subsidised rate of Rs 30 per kg and palmolein oil at Rs 25 per litre under the special PDS. The state government clearly thinks it is politically judicious to stick to these schemes which have been extended up to March 2014 in the latest budget. Tamil Nadu, which earlier critiqued the UPA’s proposed food security initiative as being ‘confusing’, says irrespective of what happens to the National Food Security Bill, the state will stick to free rice et al.  

Cheap rice continues to be the weapon of choice elsewhere too. In Odisha, chief minister Naveen Patnaik has been under fire from political rivals over his rice at Re 1-a-kg scheme. Various Congress leaders have slammed Patnaik for his “populist scheme”. Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has wanted to know why poor families in Odisha were not given rice at that rate earlier.

The Congress’ Odisha unit claims that the cheap rice idea is actually theirs and Patnaik has stolen it to further political ends. Patnaik’s party counters that by pointing out that their party, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) announced the Rs 2 per kilo rice way back in 2008. That clinched Patnaik’s victory at the hustings in 2009, say political analysts. Now the price of rice has been brought down to Re 1 per kilo for all the below-the-poverty-line (BPL) families.

The bottom line: there is no wishing away food politics. It is here to stay. At a time when the government has comfortable food-grain stocks, why is it not supplying more to bring food prices down? Especially since experience shows food prices win or lose elections.

Patralekha Chatterjee is a Delhi-based writer

@ patralekha2011  l inbox@dnaindia.net