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“Corruption pervasive in failed PDS” by J Venkatesan

Political influence and interference hampering distribution, says court-appointed vigilance panel 

Large-scale diversion of foodgrains; black marketing by fair price shop dealers

All-round complicity among FPS, transporters and corrupt Civil Supplies officials

The Supreme Court-appointed Central Vigilance Committee (CVC) has slammed the Public Distribution System as one of the most corrupt sectors, saying the root cause of its failure in several States is political interference.

“Corruption is all pervasive in the entire chain involved in the PDS. It continues to remain a formidable problem. It is true that some officers are doing a good job but then most of the functionaries under them in the Department are typically callous and resort to corrupt practices.”

The CVC, headed by Justice D.P. Wadhwa, retired Supreme Court judge, submitted its report to a Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and K.S. Radhakrishnan, hearing a petition on the need for streamlining the PDS.

Senior counsel Colin Gonzalves, appearing for the People's Union for Civil Liberties, expressed the committee's concern over the functioning of the PDS in several States, and submitted a chart explaining its working there. The Bench took the report on record.

“Patchwork won't do”

The report said corruption in the PDS was a cancerous growth and had to be chopped off as patchwork would not do. “The Central government gives a whopping Rs. 28,000 crore annually to the States to subsidise food for the poor but till the recommendations of the committee are put in place, the poor will go on suffering at the hands of corrupt officials, dishonest fair price shop [FPS] owners, treacherous transporters and, possibly to a large extent, unscrupulous millers as well.”

There was large-scale diversion of foodgrains supplied to the PDS; black marketing by FPS dealers; a strong nexus between them and officials of the department; improper record-keeping; false entries in registers; and above all political influence and interference hampering public distribution.

Starting from Delhi, “the PDS is inefficient and corrupt. There is diversion and black marketing of PDS foodgrains on a large scale. Subsidised foodgrains do not reach the poor, who desperately need the same. These poor people never get the PDS foodgrains in proper quantity and quality. There is all-round complicity of FPS, transporters and corrupt officials of the Civil Supplies Department.”

In Rajasthan, the PDS “is unsatisfactory; there are many irregularities, irregular lifting of grain, no lifting and bulk lifting. PDS has collapsed. The committee was informed that political pressure is put on officials and the advisory committee in appointment of FPS dealers.”

In Jharkhand, it “is a glaring example of what the system ought not to be. The distribution mechanism of the State has continued in the hands of the most corrupt and inefficient Bihar State Food and Supply Corporation. The committee was informed that rotten grain and good grain are lying together in the godown.” If FPS owners do not pay the godown manager Rs. 10 a bag, he supplies rotten grain, says the report.

In Bihar, “the most disappointing fact is that foodgrains are not distributed every month. The committee visited many villages and towns and met lots of beneficiaries. It was a general complaint that during the last year, they got foodgrains only for 2 to 3 months.”

The state of affairs in Karnataka, Orissa, Uttarakhand and Gujarat was similar, says the report.

Shelter for homeless

On providing shelter to shelterless people, the Bench on February 10 asked the States to file a report on providing night shelter to one lakh people in metropolitan towns. As some of the States had not filed their response, the Bench, while granting two weeks' time, made it clear that the Secretaries of the department concerned would have to be personally present if the response was not filed.

The Bench posted the matter to April 7, when the PDS issue will be considered.