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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | 'Why not abolish PDS for APL families?' by Dhananjay Mahapatra

'Why not abolish PDS for APL families?' by Dhananjay Mahapatra

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published Published on Jul 29, 2010   modified Modified on Jul 29, 2010

In what could put the government on a politically difficult turf, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to answer within two weeks why cheap ration under public distribution system (PDS) to above poverty line card holders should not be abolished and the BPL category enlarged.

Under the targetted PDS (TPDS), wheat and rice are available at cheap rates to one crore poorest of the poor families (Antyoday Anna Yojana or AAY card holders), 6.52 crore BPL families and 13.26 crore APL families. Rice/wheat per kg for AAY card holders is Rs 3/2, for BPL Rs 5.65/4.15 and for APL Rs 8.30/6.10.

The answer to "why not abolish APL beneficiaries under PDS" was asked by a Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma while dealing with a report submitted by the Justice D P Wadhwa committee, which found rampant corruption in the working of PDS and largescale pilferage of foodgrains in every state. It also said that 90% of kerosene is diverted.

"The general complaint is that people in BPL category are not getting the intended benefit under the PDS because people in the APL category are also entitled to foodgrains under the PDS. It is desirable that people in the APL category should not get PDS benefit and entire benefit be extended only to BPL category," the Bench said.

On a suggestion from senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who appeared for NGO People's Union for Civil Liberties, the Bench also asked additional solicitor general Mohan Parasaran to find out from the Centre whether it agreed with the suggestion of the National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Sonia Gandhi for declaring 150 districts poor and extending the BPL scheme of PDS to the entire population residing in these districts.

It took strong exception to the news report about 62 million tonnes of foodgrain rotting in Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns due to lack of space and directed release of the grain to the needy. "Not a single grain of food should be wasted," said the Bench.

"In a country where people are starving and the official statement of the government indicates that there is shortage of food at many places, how can the foodgrains be allowed to rot in FCI godowns," the Bench said and asked the governments to adopt a suitable storage mechanism or release the foodgrains to the needy.

Regarding the rampant corruption and pilferage in the PDS system, the court asked the Centre why the public distribution system be not totally computerised and foodgrains be not directly transported from FCI godowns to ration shops instead of routing them through several intermediaries. It also suggested that the foodgrains should be stored in government godowns rather than private warehouses.

It said the Union government would prepare the software for computerisation with help from Nandan Nilekani-headed Unique Identification Authority of India or any such body.

It also reminded the state about its June 10, 2008 order by which it had increased the ration for BPL families from 25 to 35 kg/per month and wondered as to how the government could limit the foodgrain allocation without taking into account the size of the families.

"How is it that a family which has two members gets the same quantity of foodgrain that is given to another family with eight members," the Bench asked. It also asked the food secretary to respond within two weeks detailing the measures already taken to implement PDS in letter and spirit on the basis of recommendations from several committees and groups of ministers (GoMs)


The Times of India, 28 July, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Why-not-abolish-PDS-for-APL-families/articleshow/6224181.cms
 

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