Food Security Bill

After few stints with my travel diary, I am back with one of my favorite topics, Politics. The government has introduced the food security bill in Parliament today along with the burden of Rs 1,00,000 crores of burden on the Finance Minister. Surrounded by corruption scandals and lack of political reforms, the government needed something to talk about in the upcoming state elections in UP, Gujarat and Punjab, 3 of the most important elections in the current political scenario. The food security bill is the brainchild of the National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi. After NREGA, this is the second biggest social security policy advised by the council. If the bill is passed, then it will feed rice/wheat/millet to almost 65% of the Indian population at a subsidized rate of Rs 1/2/3 based on different levels of poverty. Personally I appreciate the government for bringing in such a bill which hopes to wipe out the malnutrition and starvation across the country. However, the government once again proved that how ineffective and inefficient in planning such a important bill. There are issues of corruption, infrastructure, supply issues and on top of it is the global economic scenario. 

Before implementing the bill, it is important to identify the people who are considered as living below poverty line and above poverty line. We as such do not have a consensus on how to define the poverty line. Should it be based on the money a family earns per day or should it be based on the nutrition level they consume. Once identified, I am not sure how effective the distribution will be. With the history of high level corruption every where, it is important that the government should ensure that the amount of money allocated towards the programme is reaches fully to the public. Rahul Gandhi himself have acknowledged that most of the money allotted for the welfare schemes does not reach the public. The government do not have any mechanism to check corruption and with a weak Lokpal Bill it is planning to introduce, I am not very confident that the government will be able to achieve the target of feeding all the Indians. 

The public distribution system itself is a failure in most of the states with lots of grains intended for the public is smuggled and sold else where. Apart from this, statistics says that almost 40% of the agricultural products produced in India is being wasted because of poor infrastructure.Most of us have seen how wheat grains were stored in open and allowed to rot in Punjab due to lack of storage space. There are not enough proper warehouses to store the procured grains. Moreover, the quality of the food products is identified based on the number of days it takes to reach the retailers from farmers. The more the days travelled, the less the quality and I am sure with the kind of roads and infrastructure we have it will take more time to reach the retailer.Ultimately government will be left with low quality food grains to be distributed to the poor. 

India is land of billion people and to feed them requires enormous supply. Currently, Southern states, Punjab and Haryana have been producing surplus and feeding almost the entire nation. Taking in to account of the unpredictable nature of monsoons in India, we do not know when will we be hit by water problems and with lots of disputes on water down South, we do not know how are we going to get the supply for the entire nation. India seldom enter the international markets to procure food grains and if the necessity comes for India to procure from the International Market, it is going to definitely inflate the already high food inflation. I am sure government would have thought about it before introducing this bill, but I am sure this is not the right time to introduce the bill in the Parliament. The economy has slowed down in India and in 2012, if the euro zone crisis worsens, it will have a major impact in Indian economy as well. I feel government should wait till we come back to 9% growth levels before introducing this bill in the Parliament. We have already seen farmers protesting against the government on the MSP. In fact farmers in Andhra Pradesh are planning to have a crop holiday as mark of protest against the government. When the government is not able address the issue of those who are feeding the nation, what is the point in the introducing the bill. 

Indian government has taken a short cut way to come back to power. Being dormant for 3 years with elections are around the corner all of a sudden the government seems to bring in all the populist measures without having any major discussion in the parliament. Personally I have lost the confidence on these politicians but there are still people whom I can bank on to see my country a developed one.

Singapore

Continuing my travel blog, next in the list is Singapore. The Lion City is one of the best cities to live and by any standard it is one of the best cities to visit on a holiday. There are plenty of places to visit in Singapore and contrary to the size of the city it takes at least a week to see all the places here. The most important part of this is all these places can be accessed through public transport itself and there is really no need to take a taxi to reach these places unless you have time constraints

Singapore Zoo/Night Safari: This is a cool place for all the animal lovers. There are plenty of different types of animals which you would not see in your native country (at least for me). Polar bears, Orangutans, Proboscis Monkeys, Baboons, Sea Cow, and Sea Lions are some which will attract the visitors for sure. More than the animals, it is the habitat which is designed to be more like a natural habitat is commendable. Night Safari is in the same campus of that of Zoo and it opens at 6.30PM. The visitors can experience the various habitats of different animals sitting on a tram. Apart from seeing the animals, the different type of shows which highlights the sufferings of animals at the hands of humans is well highlighted and appreciated.

Jurong Bird Park:  Magnificent is the word I would use for this place. One gets to see the most colorful species of birds here. Also one can witness the most beautiful creatures of the world here. The Pelicans, Flamingos, Penguins, Peacock, Eagle, Vultures, Parrots, Toucans and Hornbills can been seen at their best here. But the most important of all is the Lory Loft, where one can feed the Lories for a meager amount of S$2. There is nothing more beautiful than the colorful Lories sitting on your body for a cup of honey.

Sentosa Island:  A separate island connected to the island of Singapore. This is an entertainment place and it requires at least 3/4^th of the day to see this place. There are lots of important places to be seen here and the most important ones are the Merlion, Underwater World, Dolphin Lagoon, Siloso Beach and Songs of the Sea.  Apart from this there are lots of adventurous sports, 4D movie, Fort Siloso, and other beaches of Sentosa.

Universal Studios: Between Singapore main land and Sentosa is the world famous Universal Studios. It is a theme park based on the movies of Universal Pictures. This place is expensive but will be really a good experience for tourists.

Botanical Garden: The National Orchid Garden located at the heart of Singapore is certainly not be missed by the tourists. There are many varieties of Orchids one can see here and it is a very good place for Photographers. The colorful Orchids is perfect example of the creativity of God.

Raffles Place/Marina Bay: The downtown Singapore, this place shows why Singapore is regarded as the financial powerhouse of the world. Sky scrapers by the Singapore river which houses almost all the financial giants, beautiful bridges, Merlion, Marina Bay Sands, Marine Barrage, Esplanade Hall, Singapore Parliament, Supreme Court and finally restaurants by the river. The most happening place in the weekends and certainly one of the most beautiful places in Singapore.

Apart from the places I have mentioned above there are numerous places to be seen which I list below

Orchard Road (best seen during the Christmas when it will be decorated with lights)

Little India

China Town (one of the best places for shopping)

Asian Civilization Museum and the Singapore National Museum

Chinese Garden

How to get going:

Travelling with in Singapore is very easy as the entire island is very well connected with public transportation. There is the SMRT/SBS Buses and the Trains which go to almost all the places in Singapore.

Singapore is best visited in the month of April-May where there will be no or little rain. The climate here is tropical and one does not know when it rains. So it is advisable to carry an umbrella whenever one goes out.