Criminal Wastage of Food grains in the name of the poor
The major objective of the Government run Public Distribution System (PDS) in India is mainly meant to provide food grains at affordable prices to the poor and at subsidized prices to the population living below the poverty line. Now the question is who is poor? The definition of poverty has always been the most controversial and widely debated issue at national as well as international platforms. Poverty cannot be viewed merely as a set of indicators, as one dimensional phenomenon. Rather a complex plays of regional, socio-economic and political factors. Mohan Guruswamy and Ronald Joseph Abrabham of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, New Delhi highlighting the difference between poverty and Hunger state: “Poverty is an economic condition. Hunger is a physical condition that arises out of severe economic condition. While the definition of Hunger in terms of calories can remain constant, the definition of poverty is relative to the present levels of general prosperity...The present official poverty line is based only on Calories and hence accounts for little else but the situation of one’s hunger .It would have been more accurate to define this as a starvation line, as that is exactly what it is.” The official poverty line should br renamed as ‘Starvation Line’ since apart from providing 650 grams of food grains per day , it makes very little provision for the other essentials of life. The most talked about PDS programme is not being utilised to provide a balance diet so as to prevent infant and child mortality. Government is not prepared to implement The Supreme Court’s order of August 12 ,2010. The Court made certain directions like limiting food procurement to covered warehousing capacity and distributing the rotting food grains free of cost to the poor. Do you know in India on the one side as per the Human Development Report (2005), 47 % children age 5 are underweight. Similarly, 21% of the population is undernourished in 2002-03 on the other on August 2010 the total food stocks with the FCI were 55 million tonnes as compared to the Buffer requirement of 27 million tonnes. Of this 15 million tonnes of wheat was lying in the open space. As per some estimates 50,000 tonnes of food stocks have already deteriorated beyond human consumption as result of long improper storage. This is what i call criminal wastage of food grains. This wastage is a cost to the public exchequer and is booked in the food subsidy bill in the name of the poor.
On the one side we know that India’s 80% of the population lives in rural areas and of this nearly 75% do not purchase food grains for their consumption from market as they produce for themselves and store for themselves. So the government PDS system is meant to cater to the needs of only left out poor population in rural and urban areas. It becomes clear from this that food and fertiliser subsidy of nearly Rs 70,000 crores is spent to subsidising the inefficiencies of the Food Corporation of India and to cater to the needs of political vested interest groups.
If the Government is really serious to do something for the poor then it should examine its PDS policy and should obey the directions of the apex Court. The work of distribution may be handed over to the Gram Sabhas. The work of procurement and distribution may be given to these rural bodies so that huge transportation cost of Rs 315 /- per quintal per month is also reduced within limits. Let the Village Panchayat and Gram Sabha decide who is poor and what should be done to eradicate his/her poverty.
The major objective of the Government run Public Distribution System (PDS) in India is mainly meant to provide food grains at affordable prices to the poor and at subsidized prices to the population living below the poverty line. Now the question is who is poor? The definition of poverty has always been the most controversial and widely debated issue at national as well as international platforms. Poverty cannot be viewed merely as a set of indicators, as one dimensional phenomenon. Rather a complex plays of regional, socio-economic and political factors. Mohan Guruswamy and Ronald Joseph Abrabham of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, New Delhi highlighting the difference between poverty and Hunger state: “Poverty is an economic condition. Hunger is a physical condition that arises out of severe economic condition. While the definition of Hunger in terms of calories can remain constant, the definition of poverty is relative to the present levels of general prosperity...The present official poverty line is based only on Calories and hence accounts for little else but the situation of one’s hunger .It would have been more accurate to define this as a starvation line, as that is exactly what it is.” The official poverty line should br renamed as ‘Starvation Line’ since apart from providing 650 grams of food grains per day , it makes very little provision for the other essentials of life. The most talked about PDS programme is not being utilised to provide a balance diet so as to prevent infant and child mortality. Government is not prepared to implement The Supreme Court’s order of August 12 ,2010. The Court made certain directions like limiting food procurement to covered warehousing capacity and distributing the rotting food grains free of cost to the poor. Do you know in India on the one side as per the Human Development Report (2005), 47 % children age 5 are underweight. Similarly, 21% of the population is undernourished in 2002-03 on the other on August 2010 the total food stocks with the FCI were 55 million tonnes as compared to the Buffer requirement of 27 million tonnes. Of this 15 million tonnes of wheat was lying in the open space. As per some estimates 50,000 tonnes of food stocks have already deteriorated beyond human consumption as result of long improper storage. This is what i call criminal wastage of food grains. This wastage is a cost to the public exchequer and is booked in the food subsidy bill in the name of the poor.
On the one side we know that India’s 80% of the population lives in rural areas and of this nearly 75% do not purchase food grains for their consumption from market as they produce for themselves and store for themselves. So the government PDS system is meant to cater to the needs of only left out poor population in rural and urban areas. It becomes clear from this that food and fertiliser subsidy of nearly Rs 70,000 crores is spent to subsidising the inefficiencies of the Food Corporation of India and to cater to the needs of political vested interest groups.
If the Government is really serious to do something for the poor then it should examine its PDS policy and should obey the directions of the apex Court. The work of distribution may be handed over to the Gram Sabhas. The work of procurement and distribution may be given to these rural bodies so that huge transportation cost of Rs 315 /- per quintal per month is also reduced within limits. Let the Village Panchayat and Gram Sabha decide who is poor and what should be done to eradicate his/her poverty.
