While protesting against Delhi
Government’s decision to conduct pilot surveys in Sangam Vihar and Jahangirpuri
for cash transfers so as to replace the existing public distribution system
(PDS), activists from Bhalaswa Lok Shakti Manch told the media persons gathered
at Indian Women Press Corps on 15 June 2012 that they have collected 4500
signatures (including 3300 signatures in Jahangirpuri alone) of residents who
do not want cash in lieu of ration.
Speaking at the press meet, Pushpa
from Bhalaswa Lok Shakti Manch (BLSM) said that Delhi Government is in favour
of replacing the PDS with cash transfers. Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan survey
conducted in 2011 showed that 91.4 percent of respondents preferred a reformed
PDS instead of cash transfers (see the link: http://www.im4change.org/hunger-hdi/public-distribution-system-pds-42.html?pgno=2).
She alleged that for distributing Rs. 12 lakh to 100 persons (one each for a household)
as money for cash transfers (for a year) in Raghubir Nagar, Rs. 14 lakh was
spent on the survey done by SEWA and IDF. On 26 April, 2012, UNDP and the Delhi
Government along with SSMI organized a public meeting in Jahangirpuri in order
to convince people about the advantages of cash transfers over PDS. However,
through a signature campaign, 4500 signatures were collected from people
rejecting the cash transfer scheme. The same have been sent and communicated to
the Chief Minister of Delhi, FSO Commissioner, AC (north West) and UNDP along
with memorandum of people from Jahangirpuri. She said that APL cardholders have
been excluded from the cash transfer scheme. People who have demanded for their
rights have faced harassment at the hands of officials and ration dealers.
Manmohan Singh, activist from Bhalaswa
Lok Shakti Manch informed that for submitting cash (of Rs. 1000/- per month) in
favour of a female head of the household in the Raghubir Nagar survey, there
were difficulties faced in opening of bank accounts due which the Delhi
Government had to directly intervene. The monthly sum of Rs. 1000/- which was
given as cash transfer for a household (of 5 members) in the pilot survey by Delhi
Government is not enough to purchase ration that can generate 2200 kilo calorie
for an adult per day in urban areas. Since 70 percent of BPL households have an
average size of 7 (and not 5 as assumed by the Delhi Government), so the sum
stipulated under the cash transfer scheme is insufficient to meet the monthly
expenditure for a household. Manmohan said that the PDS in Delhi is subject to
governance failure. It is not the PDS which is problematic but those who govern
the system who are at fault. Despite several RTI petitions being filed, most
ration/ fair price shops do not disclose information to the consumers
proactively. Repeated complaints made on irregularities in PDS have fallen on
deaf ears. Citizens’ Charter of Delhi has not been implemented well. Earlier
the Supreme Court slammed the Government for putting a cap on the number of BPL
ration cards issued when so many poor people migrate to Delhi in search of
livelihood opportunity. The e-PDS is of little benefit to the BPL.
Reetika Khera from IIT, Delhi said
that not all cash transfers are bad like widow pension, old age pension etc.
She informed about her study that was done in 10 states along with Jean Dreze during
2011. In two-third of the households surveyed, PDS was preferred over cash
transfers. In Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, people were mostly in
favour of PDS. People preferred food over cash for the following reasons: food
security; access to bank/ post office; access to markets; dissipation of cash
(for buying alcohol); underdeveloped rural markets; and, artificial inflation
caused due to collusion by local traders. If the PDS is replaced with cash
transfers, the burden of transportation and storage costs would be transferred
to the poor. From her past experience of working with the rural poor, Reetika
earlier felt that poor in the cities are not disempowered and do not lack
awareness. However, having heard the activists from BLSM, she asked for giving
urban poor both the options: cash transfer as well as PDS. In a democratic set
up, people’s views have to be taken into account, she added. She said that the
arguments in favour of cash transfers were heard during the days when PDS was
subject to rampant corruption and pilferage. However, the situation in India
has improved a lot. In her study based on secondary data from NSS 2007-08, she
has found that states that have traditionally performed poorly in terms of monthly
per capita PDS purchase viz. Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh
and Uttar Pradesh have improved their performance between 2004-05 and 2007-08
(please see:
People prefer PDS over cash transfers, http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/people-prefer-pds-over-cash-transfers-9935.html).
India is wrongly imitating the Brazilian cash transfer model-‘Bolsa Familia’. Poverty
headcount ratio at $1.25 a day (PPP) in Brazil was 6 percent in 2009 while in
India it was 33 percent in 2010 (as per the World Development Indicators).
Brazil has achieved almost universal literacy while India has a long way to go.
Brazil is more urban as compared to India. Given these differences, India needs
direct Government intervention for removing malnutrition.
Rashpal Kaur, Delhi state general
secretary, National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), the women's wing of
Communist Party of India said that though the Government is in a mood to
abolish the PDS, there is no guaranty that corruption will not take place in
cash transfer scheme. The Government wants FDI in retail to make entry in India
at the cost of common man’s interest. However, the government is depriving the
poor. The APL and BPL divide in PDS should be ended and PDS should be made
universal. She said that the Planning Commission wants to reduce the number of
BPL card holders in the country. As against the accepted number of 6.52 crore
BPL cards, there existed 10.68 crore BPL cards by end of March, 2009. There is
no uniformity in the definition of poor. There are three different estimates for
the number of BPL households: one by Prof. Arjun Sengupta, another by Dr. NC
Saxena (www.sccommissioners.org) and
the Planning Commission estimates. According to Prof. Arjun Sengupta who
chaired the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector, 77
percent of the population of India lives below the poverty line. Dr. NC Saxena,
a retired civil servant acting as a Commissioner appointed by the Supreme
Court, feels that half the country’s population of 1.2 billion is below the
poverty line, which he apparently defines as a monthly per capita income of Rs
700 in rural areas and Rs 1,000 in urban areas. A recent Planning Commission
estimate puts the head count ratio in India at 29.8 percent in 2009-10. She
alleged that quota for Central assistance in PDS to states has been reduced in
recent years. She said that even the Prime Minister while releasing the HUNGaMA
report has agreed that it is a national shame for India to have 42 percent of
its children as underweight. Though the Government spends conspicuously on
toilets and gave 5 lakh crore sops in its budget to industrial houses, it never
has enough money for the poor. Cash transfer is dangerous and the Government is
under pressure from the private sector. The Food Corporation of India has
outsourced its work to outsiders and is running short of staff. The Government
is not willing to buy from farmers. Cash transfer scheme that is being piloted
is not linked to inflation. Somehow the Government wants to manipulate data so
as to show that India has reduced poverty as per the Millennium Development
Goals requirement. A lot of money is wasted on trivial programmes like Stand Up
against Poverty (http://standagainstpoverty.org/suap/)
and Make Noise against Poverty.
Image courtesy: http://www.outlookindia.com/images/pds_20071126.jpg
References:
Survey on preference between PDS and
cash transfers in Delhi by Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan, Delhi, http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/reports-documents/survey-preference-between-pds-and-cash-transfers-delhi
Do Poor People in Delhi want to change
from PDS to Cash Transfers?-A Study conducted by SEWA Delhi, October 2009,
Justice Wadhwa Committee slams the
PDS, http://www.im4change.org/news-alert/justice-wadhwa-committee-slams-the-pds-1759.html
Justice Wadhwa Committee on PDS,
Bolsa Familia in Brazil: Context,
Concept and Impacts (2009), ILO,
The Nuts and Bolts of Brazil’s Bolsa
Família Program: Implementing Conditional Cash Transfers in a Decentralized
Context-Kathy Lindert, Anja Linder, Jason Hobbs and Bénédicte de la Brière, May
2007,
HUNGaMA: Fighting Hunger &
Malnutrition (2011), Naandi Foundation, http://www.im4change.org/law-justice/disaster-relief-41.html?pgno=2
Delhi government faces SC’s wrath for not
issuing ration card, Jagran Post, 18 May, 2011, http://post.jagran.com/Delhi-government-faces-SCs-wrath-for-not-issuing-ration-card-1305730982
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