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NGOs question Delhi move to givecash subsidies in place of foodgrains

-The Hindu

 

“Surveys leading to move are misleading, towing a pre-planned agenda”

Opposing the Delhi Government's move to extend a pilot project in the Capital for providing cash subsidies in place of subsidised foodgrains for the needy, a group of non-government organisations led by social activist Arvind Kejriwal has said the decision is “questionable” and that the surveys conducted ahead of the project's implementation were “misleading”.

One of these surveys conducted by SEWA in 2009 had claimed that 60 per cent of the 150 families surveyed said they wanted cash instead of ration.

Addressinga press conference on Thursday, Mr. Kejriwal said: “There is no transparency on the conduct of the SEWA survey and other such surveys conducted by the Delhi Government and the United Nations Development Programme which the government claims to have used as the basis for going ahead with the decision.”

“These surveys are a mere formality to tow the line of the Government's pre-decided agenda. The State Government's justification of merely implementing a Planning Commission project to close all PDS shops and provide cash also needs tobe looked into. Why is the Chief Minister taking so much interest in the scheme? Is she doing it on her own or is she being forced to do this?” he questioned.

The press conference was also attended by Santosh Koli of NGO Parivartan who along with the activists met the Chief Minister on Wednesday to urge her not to go ahead with theproject that was rolled out on a pilot basis in West Delhi's Raghubir Nagar in January.

She claimed that “Ration Vyawastha Sudhar Abiyaan” – a group of NGOs which also has Parivartan as its member – had surveyed 593 families and found that a majority of people surveyed were against this scheme. “On Wednesday's meeting we were admonished by the Chief Minister in her private chamber and told that ifany person creates obstruction in the scheme's implementation he or shewould have to face dire consequences including getting arrested and being sent to jail.” Mr. Kejriwal said it was “contradictory” that whilethe Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council had drafted a Food Security Act promising increased allocation of subsidised foodgrains to the poor, the Congress Government in the State had decided to close downPDS ration shops.

He argued that the cash system would not work as the money given to the poor might be misused for buying liquor by men in the family. The RTI activist further claimed that the new scheme was “inflation insensitive” and would lead to “even more corruption than in the PDS ”.

Mr. Kejriwal said:“Switching to cash subsidies would spell disaster for the food economy of the country as PDS is intrinsically linked to issues of pricing of food crops and their procurement, inflation and minimum support prices. Thus a a more scientific and transparent survey needs to be done before taking the decision.”

Meanwhile, Delhi SEWA Coordinator Dr. Sanjay Kumar said: “SEWA Delhi is implementing a pilot study on cash transfers in the PDS at Raghubir Nagar in West Delhi. It is a scientific comparative study with 500 sample size and is being conducted by independent research agency IDF. Cash is being transferred directly to the bank accounts of PDS beneficiaries who have volunteered to be part of this study.”

“The study was started in January and will be over in December 2011. The midline report will be handed over to the Government in August and the endline report will be submitted early next year. The pilot project intends to see whether people prefer cash or ration or prefer to have a choice.” he added.