Public Distribution System in Madhya Pradesh

Food for Poor:

No Public, No Distribution and No System

Sachin Kumar Jain

Supreme Court of India says that the concern of the Judiciary is to see that the poor people, the poverty stricken and the deprived sections and the weaker sections of society should not be left hungry and famine stricken. It is the prime responsibility of the government,
whether it is at the Centre or of the State. It is a matter of policy which is best left to the government. The Judiciary should be satisfied with and it may have to ensure that the grain that is lying in the godowns and especially of the Food Corporation of India should not be destroyed by rats or dumped into the sea.

For the last seven years the Supreme Court and NGOs have been trying to ensure that the Governments (Central and State) perform their constitutional roles to deal with the inhuman situation of hunger and famine. But in today’s context it can clearly be seen that the Government of Madhya Pradesh and the Central Government, in reference to the latest data of the Public Distribution System, have been distributing only 10 to 15 kilos of ration instead of the approved 35 kilos, to the 44 lakh 77 thousand families living below the poverty line.

According to a study conducted by the Planning Commission, 50 to 75 % of the grains are being sacrificed to corruption in Madhya Pradesh. In the past two and a half years the ration available through the Public Distribution System has assumed great significance for the 39%( 60 lakh )families living below the poverty level due to the rising prices in the open market , but in this period the State Government, under pressure from the open market , has not only reduced the quantity under the Public Distribution System but also has not taken any solid steps to improve the system so that the system improves and the families below the poverty line get their rightful quantity of rations. A ration card holder Rajjibai Ahirwar of Bagmau Panchayat in Chhatarpur District contends that the roti made out of the red flour from the red wheat becomes rock hard on getting cold and tastes like fodder. The quality of wheat is such that even animals refuse to eat it but the poor families are forced to eat this under great duress. This has a very grave effect on their health. In the ration shops of Madhya Pradesh extremely poor quality wheat which is harmful to health, imported from Australia and other countries, is being distributed to the families living below poverty level. As a result of using this wheat grave health problems are being faced by these poor families. In itself this wheat is of extremely poor quality and the rotis made out of this becomes very hard in a short time on cooling and give the impression of eating a rubbery item. Complaints of stomach aches and stomach upsets are received regularly. It is very difficult to imagine the condition of the old and infirm beneficiaries. Many beneficiaries used this wheat to sow in their fields. The result of this was that the plant grew only upto one foot and then the production of other crops in that area was adversely affected. When 300 tribals of Kesla reached the Chief Minister with samples to inform him about these problems they were all arrested. That day the Chief Minister was inaugurating at Kesla the powerful plan for eradicating malnutrition. A survey of the present situation of the poverty line on Madhya Pradesh showed that the State government should distribute 35 kilos of ration per family to 44 lakh 77 thousand families so according to this the state should procure 1799700 metric tones of grains. But the government of India believes that in MP there are only 24.87 lakh families who live below the poverty line and for whom grain should be procured. According to this the Food ministry of the Government of India is procuring only 1068216metric tones of grains. This means that the 19.90 lakh BPL families are either totally deprived of benefit of the scheme of getting grains or else the ration meant for 25 lakh families is being distributed to 45 lakh families. If we try to estimate the leakage (corruption in grains) we find that an average only about four and a half lakh metric tone of grain is reaching the beneficiaries. The Planning Commission has ,in its report on the performance of the PDS system, clearly stated that Madhya Pradesh is included in those states where 50 to 75 % grain is being sacrificed at the alter of corruption, i.e., each of the 45 lakh beneficiaries is getting just 10 kilos of ration with great difficulty.

The checking of the wheat which is distributed by the Public Distribution System is the responsibility of the State Government and keeping a watch on this is the responsibility of the Department of Food and Civil Supplies. They have to ensure that the wheat being distributed through the ration shops is of the required quality and will not adversely affect people’s health and the environment. But it is surprising that in the last 13 months the wheat imported in Madhya Pradesh, in different stages, and being distributed through the Public Distribution System has never been checked.

When the Maharashtra Government got 265 samples of these grains checked at their level, in the Konkan Bhavan Public Health Laboratory (Navi Mumbai), it was found that out of them 229 samples were unfit for human consumption. It is clearly visible that at the Central level, lot of corruption has taken place in this whole case which is being investigated by the CBI and at the State level it is clearly a case of infringement of Human Rights. On the World Food.Day this year, the National Human Rights Commission has taken real initiative to advocate organizing active vigilance committees to fight against famine. Actually now it is necessary for us to initiate steps to establish systematic improvements and answerability against famine and food insecurity. People are getting submerged under government plans but those 30 crore people who sleep hungry daily are not getting any benefit from these. The most important subject is that if the Government is politically committed to the right to food and nutrition, then why are Rs. 12 thousand crore flowing off in the gutters of corruption? In clear terms food plans are not the government’s priority but their aim is to develop a huge food market. .It is surprising that imported wheat which is harmful to health is being distributed through ration shops and the government is unaware of this. The conduct of the government, at some stage, clearly implies that they have no interest in achieving situation of nutrition security. Only minimum efforts are being made to ensure that people do not die overnight but die a slow death. Probably governments, whether at the center or in the states, understand the language of poll results , in this context the electoral politician should really analyze the riots happening at ration shops in west Bengal, Sidhi and Shivpuri of Madhya Pradesh because may be Right to food will be the next important issue for next year election.