Chhattisgarhs food revolution………..Ejaz Kaiser
WELFARESTATE Widespread corruption and 23 million fake ration cards cripple Indias oldest, costliest and most corrupt welfare scheme. One of the nations poorest states shows howpolitical will and hard work can transform the public distribution system
WELFARESTATE Widespread corruption and 23 million fake ration cards cripple Indias oldest, costliest and most corrupt welfare scheme. One of the nations poorest states shows howpolitical will and hard work can transform the public distribution system
Since she could remember, labourer Rama Nag (34) didnt know whather ration cardmeant, that as one of Indias nearly 400million officially poor people, she was entitled to subsidised foodgrain.
Until 2006,here in the heart of impoverished tribal India, on the edge of the sprawling forests of Bastar and the Maoist zone of Dantewada, Nagand her family of four survived on rice and whatever they could buy in the local market – while the owner of her local fair-price shop kept her card, grabbed her quota of grain and sold it for a profit of about 200 per cent.
What a difference a computer system, committed bureau crats and above all – adetermined chief minister can make.
Today, Nagholdsupher ration card.
She knows she lives below the poverty line (BPL)an income of Rs 12 or belowper day in rural areasand she knows she has a right to subsidised rice, wheat, kerosene and free salt.
Nobody everthought the poor will get their full ration ontime without any hassles,said Nag,
echoing a widespread feeling among Chhattisgarhs 15million officially poor people. Itsarelief, especially with rising food prices. Its hard to keep food hidden from the poor in Chhattisgarh any longer.
echoing a widespread feeling among Chhattisgarhs 15million officially poor people. Itsarelief, especially with rising food prices. Its hard to keep food hidden from the poor in Chhattisgarh any longer.
Earlier the sarpanches (village heads) wouldnt inform the people (of their BPL rights or even that they were on the BPL list,said Jagdalpurs Food Controller Vishwanath Netan.Now, a copy of the BPL beneficiaries is with every panchayat (village council) and their details areall easily available. In a country with 23 million ghost ration cards in fictitious names and about 121 million deserving poor deprived of subsidised food (according to a 2010 report from a SupremeCourt committee headed by former Justice DP Wadhwa), Indias sixth poorest state in terms of per capita income, and one of its most in surgency ridden, has engineere dare markable turn around in all its 10,500 fair-price shops.
IDEA TO IMPLEMENTATION
Chhattisgarhs great reform began with a chief ministerial idea, followed in 2004 with an administrative revamp and a two-year-long computerisation of Chhattisgarhs public distribution system (PDS).
The PDS is Indias oldest, most-established welfare system, first launched by the colonial government in 1942 before going nationwide in 1956.
The political dividends were apparent when in 2008 Chhattisgarhs Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Minister Raman Singh was re-elected.
Chhattisgarhs government first created a network of computers across the states 146 development blocks in 18 districts, where details of every beneficiary, such as Nag, areput online.
Each beneficiary can also keep track of food stocks with an sms, which is sent immediately after a PDS shipment is sent from a distribution centre toa local fair priceshop.
The sms informs the beneficiary of everything, including the date, time, the vehicle number and the stocknumber, said Som Shekhar, principal system analyst at Raipurs National Informatics Centre.
As shipments were tracked online, fair-price shop owners received incentives to stop pilfering food.
The commission for each shop was increased nearly 400 per cent, from Rs 8 to Rs 30 per quintal,and all shipments were tracked online.
On the outskirts of Dantewada, Jitru (42), a farmer houses only one name, explains how heno longer has to walk 8km to the nearest fair-priceshop since every gram panchayat no whas one.
PDS reform is giving tribals new hope, Hindustan Times found while travelling across the state.
In the heart of Dantwadas forests, Paru Karmastands outside his thatched hut and explains howheno longer barters valuable forest produce like honey for salt.
I get two kg of salt free every month, along with 35 kg of grain, 1.5 kgof sugar and 3litres of kerosene, said Karma, who until 2006 received only 20 kg of grain for the same price, Rs 70.
These micro improvements lead to macro savings.With computerisation, regular reviews and frequent
verification, more than 1.3 lakh BPL cards were cancelled in 2008-08.
verification, more than 1.3 lakh BPL cards were cancelled in 2008-08.
Each fake card guzzles Rs 8,500 of the annual subsidy, said Rajeev Jaiswal, an architect of PDS reform and joint director of Chhattisgarhs food and civil supplies department. This was costing us morethan Rs 100 crore. GREATLEAK OF INDIA With 77 per cent of the Rs 55,578 crore national food subsidy bill for 200910 Indias biggest welfare spend likely to be squandered in corruption and leaks,Chhattisgarhs reforms gain increased significance. They serve as aprecursor to national PDS reform, which will unfold as acorollary to Aadhar, the national project to provide every Indian with adigital identity.
While technology is a powerful tool, it is still that, a tool. The PDS system is firing popular imagination because it is backed by administrative will.
In Bastar, anganwadi (health) worker Jogeshwari, a Gond tribal, recounts how she called the PDS networks tollfree number when she did not receive her monthly quota of foodgrain.
What followed as to nished Jogeshwari.
Two days later,a food officer walked into her village to fix the problem. I was so surprised,said Jogeshwari.
Over two years, the toll-free number has registered 4,000 complaints and check aseries of malpractices. Based on these complaints, the police registered 500 first-information reports; morethan100 officials and shop-owners have been arrested. If citizens wish to follow their case, all information on action taken is available online.
Chhattisgarh keeps trying to improve its PDS: Last week, the government ordered fair-prices hops to remain open foreight hours on working days, up from two to four hours.
Theresults of Chhattisgarhs reforms are revealing.
In 2008-09,the advocacy group, Right-to-Food campaign, found that 13 million BPL families were getting their full quota of foodgrain. No morethan a million fakes were unearthed, as opposed to more than 8million previously, said Samir Garg, an advisor to the Commissioners of the Supreme Court in aright-to-food case.Intwo years, the percentage of the satisfied BPL cardholders has gone from 4million to 9 million people, according to the same survey.
Even the Maoists do not interfere with the PDS, insist state officials.
I have not come across any incident of PDS stock being looted by the Maoists during the last couple of years, said Bastar Commissioner Manoj Pingua. The system is working well, even in remote areas such as Bastar. With food subsidies expected to grow as the number of people officially recognised as poor slated to more than double, its time India started listening to Chhattisgarh.
I have not come across any incident of PDS stock being looted by the Maoists during the last couple of years, said Bastar Commissioner Manoj Pingua. The system is working well, even in remote areas such as Bastar. With food subsidies expected to grow as the number of people officially recognised as poor slated to more than double, its time India started listening to Chhattisgarh.
(Re-Imagining India is a joint initiative of Hindustan Times and Mint to track and understand policy reforms that could, if successful, transform Indias efforts at inclusive growth.Tosee previous articles in the series go to www.hindustantimes.com / reimaginingindia )