By K K Singh
Patna. Public Distribution System (PDS), particularly much-publicized “coupon system”, introduced by the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over three years back for providing food-grains to ration card holders specially persons under Below Poverty Line (BPL), has turned into fiasco in Bihar because of apathetic attitude of the state government officials and also the maneuverings of the public distribution dealers in almost all parts of the state.
Such things have come to light in a recent survey of the PDS in nine states including Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Chhatishgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Initiated by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, the survey has covered 1200 randomly selected Below Poverty Line and Antyodaya households in 110 villages in these states. The survey has commented that Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh have best PDS systems, which not only provide food grains but also other essential commodities including pulse and oil while Bihar and Jharkhand states have done practically nothing to strengthen the public distribution system.
To know the failure of public distribution system and coupon system in Bihar, the survey was conducted in 12 villages of Katihar and Nalanda districts in May-June 2011. The survey was astounding to find that much-hyped coupon system to combat corruption in distribution of food-grains has failed to materialise at the ground level. Both the government officials and ration shop dealers are hand in glove with each other to deprive the poor persons in getting their food-grains on subsidized rates, the survey remarked and added that in villages after villages, the respondents have been heard complaining that PDS is not working in Bihar.
Coupon system in Bihar had envisaged that families below the poverty line will get 12 food coupons every year, one for each month. Usually they are distributed in May and June in public by the gram panchayats and government officials. In turn, the beneficiary gives one coupon to any foodgrain dealer in the district and in exchange, he or she gets food-grains like rice and wheat and also kerosene oil. Concerned delalers deposit the coupons to the administration and get food-grains and kerosene, distributed by them on the basis of the coupons. And it continues in cyclic order throughout the year.
Nitish Kumar had visualised and claimed that coupon system would click because the card-holders, if cheated by a particular dealer, will go to another dearer and such practice would create competitiveness among PDS dealers and they would take care of consumers. But the good branding of ideas by Nitish Kumar did not click.
A survey of the public distribution system conducted in 12 villages of remote eastern part of the state – Katihar and in central Bihar Nalanda districts – in May-June 2011 has found altogether a different picture. Corruption has deeply entrenched in the public distribution system and both government officials and PDS dealers found hand-in-glove to cheat the card holders.
The Report of the survey has found that the public distribution dealers had delivered food-grains between 21 to 23 kg against BPL coupon that entitled 25 kg grain. Not only that even Antyodaya beneficiary gets only 31 kg instead of entitlement of 35 kg.
The survey pointed out that Barsoi in Katihar district has also same tale but different also. There food-grains are given for just a few months in a year. Many people still have coupons for months together without any foodgrains. Many of them have got their ration once or twice in a year. Many of them showed their coupons with anger and disgust dating back to 2007 without being supplied the food-grains. Dealers have different tales in Barshoi – They say that they have not received grains, the survey says and suggests that it amply clarifies that marketing officers and district managers, who control the go-downs, must have siphoned off the grains. “It amply clarifies that much-talked about claims of the chief minister’s powerful weapons in the hands of poor had failed to empower them, the survey commented.
In other villages, dealers take coupons of two months and distribute grain for one month. One dealer had taken coupons of four months (February to May) in February itself. When approached by the survey team for such lapses in not providing grains to the beneficiaries, the dealer said that he had not given grains on the pressure of the block marketing officers.
Later it was found that both the dealers and marketing officers sold the same in black-marketing. Surprisingly the option of card holders to go for another dealer is not applicable in Nalanda district.
In Nalanda district misinformation campaign by officials and dealers is also main cause behind the BPL card holders not getting food-grains.
Overall survey findings in Bihar are disgusting (especially when contrasted with other survey states).The survey has found that monthly PDS purchase of BPL households in Bihar was an average just 11.2 kg compared with the entitlement of 25 kg. As per Reetika Khera’s anaylysis of the National Sample Survey data, 90 percent of the PDS grain was diverted in Bihar in 2004-2005; it was down to 75 percent in 2009-10.
The survey suggests, “general situation in Bihar is still abysmal though not irredeemably so. “Whereas Chhatishgarh and Orrissa have made remarkable success on PDS fronts in recent years. Except in Bihar and Jharkhand, all surveyed states are getting BPL households’ full entitlements regularly.
(Source: Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi; Frontline fortnightly).
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