Nearly one crore ‘beneficiaries’ have been knocked off the rolls of the Public Distribution System (PDS) in the last one year after the State government decided to implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA). As many as 10 lakh “duplicate cards” have been removed.
Yet, there has been little impact on the quantity of rice being supplied through fair price shops across the State.
In September 2016 — two months prior to the enforcement of the NFSA — the offtake of rice was 3,19,548 tonnes. Exactly a year later, the figure was more or less the same — 3,19,343 tonnes.
One explanation that immediately comes from officials of the Civil Supplies Department is the enhancement of entitlements under the NFSA. Even though the Act stipulates the supply of 5 kg per adult per month, a single-member card should get 12 kg, the norm which the State followed prior to the introduction of the law.
Also, the original ceiling of 20 kg per card per month has been removed. So, if any card has 10 adults, the entitlement is 50 kg per month. As has been the case since May 2011, rice is being supplied free of cost.
Ground reality
Anecdotally, however, the assertions of officials are not borne out on the ground. Padma, a resident of Perungudi, for instance, goes to Telephone Nagar in the area to get her monthly entitlements.
Despite her family card having five adults, she has never been given 25 kg of rice in the last one year. “Initially, I was given 20 kg of rice. For the last six months or so, 15 kg of rice has been given. Of course, 5 kg of wheat is offered.” (The department gets 14,000 tonnes of wheat too).
Padma’s case is not solitary. Sampath of Tindivanam, who has been running a campaign against bogus cards in Villupuram district, says he has not come across anyone telling him about the enhanced entitlements.
Zahir Hussain, who runs a consumer protection body in Puliankulam of Coimbatore, says he has been offered only 5 kg of rice every month against the revised quantity of 16 kg.
S. Pushpavanam. Secretary of Tiruchi-based Consumer Protection Council, Tamil Nadu, acknowledges that the level of awareness about the revised entitlements in the wake of the NFSA is “abysmally poor.”
Though the officials say they have made efforts to generate awareness on the matter, no data is readily available about the details of family cards getting the revised entitlements.
Plugging leakages
The reduction in the number of “beneficiaries” coupled with reports of non-implementation of the law on the enhanced entitlements does raise questions regarding the prevalence of leakages in the PDS of the State. Two separate studies including one by the Central government, in the recent years, indicated that the rate of pilferage is of the order of 11% to 12%.
The officials also say there has not been any increase in the incidence of rice diversion in view of the NFSA enforcement.
A source says the figure is certainly much higher and it is at least 30%. The government would do well if it plugs this leakage effectively, as it has to purchase four lakh tonnes of rice annually over and above the routine allotment and “tide over” allotment, and spend about ₹ 1,000 crore.
