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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | World Bank dictates India’s food policy by Tarun Nangia

World Bank dictates India’s food policy by Tarun Nangia

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published Published on Jun 11, 2011   modified Modified on Jun 11, 2011
The World Bank and a pliant UPA Government plan to do away with India's public distribution system and shut down four lakh ration shops. The excuse-the Public Distribution System (PDS) spends Rs 45,000 crore every year to supply BPL families wheat, rice, kerosene and sugar of which 60 per cent of grain is looted by the food mafia. The 412page 'World Bank Report: Social Protection for Changing India', released on May 17, advocates a cashforgrain scheme under which women will be given Rs 1,100 per month for food. The World Bank doesn't tell us how this spend will be monitored, or whether it is enough to feed a family of at least four members.

The hypocrisy is blatant-as the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council pushes increasing allocation of foodgrain to the poor under the proposed Food Security Act, the Government acting on the World Bank report will close all ration shops. A pilot project in Delhi initiated by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is already on, which according to the report is "fundamental reform which allows for cash transfers instead of foodbased transfers, either when the state proves itself unable to fulfill its food transfer obligations or by offering households the choice of grain or the cash equivalent of the grain subsidy". The government hasn't made public the 'Parivartan' reports on the basis of which ration shops are to be closed.

The World Bank report states: in 2009 electoral campaign, the Congress promised a legislation on the right to food, assuring BPL households of 25 kg rice or wheat at Rs 3 per kg, as well as subsidised community kitchens in all cities for the homeless and migrants. The World Bank does not mention how the new cash-for-food scheme will benefit these unfortunates. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, at present the Planning Commission's deputy chairperson, once served as a high ranking World Bank official. The report says states with the highest poverty rates have the fewest ration cards-onethird of Jharkhand, onethird of Chhattisgarh and 30 per cent of Bihar.

The report argues that by distributing cash, they are assured of food. The World Bank is apprehensive of facing resistance from the ration shop owners and the PDS establishment; Food Corporation of India alone employs 4.5 lakh people. "There is a large internal bureaucracy running PDS which is likely to resist fundamental reform options which would undermine their role," warns the report. The report team was led by Philip O'Keefe, whose core team included Puja Vasudeva Dutta, Mohammed Ihsan Ajwad, Kalanidhi Subbarao, Robert Palacios, Rinku Murgai and Dina UmaliDeininger.

Wadhwa report on PDS reform rotting

Somewhere in a dusty government cabinet, Justice D P Wadhwa's report on public distribution system (PDS) reform is gathering dust. It notes that the "central vigilance committee has found the Government of Delhi has not set up any system for monitoring the working of fair price shops through the network of the National Informatics Centre or otherwise." The Wadhwa Committee was constituted as a result of a writ petition filed by social activists in 2001. The panel's report was released in March last year. Among other recommendations of the Wadhwa Committee are: Go Hitech: The committee recommended electronic weighing scales connected to computers to be placed in central and state government warehouses, enabling immediate data upload about quantity of grain loaded in trucks and eliminating pilferage. GPS should be installed in trucks. Before commodities are loaded, each bag would need a barcode sticker that has the fair price shop number, loading date, type of commodity and a unique four digit number for the consignment. The automated system would indicate the exact number bags sent from Food Corporation of India to the shop, which can later be confirmed online. Barcoded food coupons, biometric cards with details like denomination, price, serial number, name and number of ration shop, will be scanned before foodgrain is handed over. The personal details of all ration card holders would be stored electronically in all ration shops. A fingerprint scanner will identify the card owner, and a computer will calculate how much grain he is eligible for. Helpline: A toll free 24/7 national consumer helpline with an inhouse call centre should be set up. All conversations to the helpline to be recorded. All grievances to be forwarded to section incharge for solutions. Public meetings must be organised by food and supply officers twice a month on first and third Saturdays every month, between 25 pm. Transparency: A system of public audit must be started, under which any ration card holder can, for a fee, get copies of documents at the ration shop. Each shop must display at a prominent place, the list of Antodaya beneficiaries, entitlement of essential commodities, scale of issue, retail issue prices, timings of opening and closing of fair price shops, stock of essential commodities received during the month, the opening and closing stock of essential commodities and the authority of redressal of grievances, lodging complaints with respect to quality and quantity of essential commodities under PDS and the weekly off day. The fair price shop owner has to maintain records of ration card holders, stock register and issue of sale register, copies of which have to be furnished to the Nagar Palika, vigilance committee or any other body authorised by the state government. Samples of foodgrains being sold have to be displayed at the shop. All food supply officers should direct fair price shop owners under their jurisdiction, to put their authenticated signatures on the receipt, as acknowledgement of receiving supplies, along with the weight challan memo showing name, licence number and shop address. The report says Clause 8 of the PDS Control Order, 2001, makes it mandatory for the state government to monitor the functioning of the ration shop through a computer network installed in the district national information centres. The central vigilance committee has discovered that the Government of Delhi has not set up any system, it says.


Express News Service, 5 June, 2011, http://expressbuzz.com/thesundaystandard/world-bank-dictates-india%E2%80%99s-food-policy/281211.html


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