The BJP’s election manifesto had stated “that ‘universal food security’ is integral to national security. BJP will take steps to ensure that the benefits of the scheme reach the common man and that the right to food does not remain an act on paper or a political rhetoric…” This election promise could well become political rhetoric if the key suggestion of the expert committee headed by former minister Shanta Kumar -- diluting the coverage under the National Food Security Act to 40 per cent of population instead of 67 per cent at present -- is accepted.