New ration policy, same old problems

Many expected the classification of State households into ‘priority’ and ‘non-priority’ to weed out ineligible beneficiaries of subsidised rations. But its implementation hasn’t been perfect and activists say it has increased the strain on an already troubled system

COIMBATORE:  People have been furious over images of actor Kajal Agarwal, slippers and even the national flag on smart ration cards instead of their pictures, but what should concern them more is the ‘priority’ that the Public Distribution System has given to the people, without taking a census as the Government had ordered.

Earlier this year, there had been a huge outcry among people after the State Government framed the Tamil Nadu Food Security Rules, which divides people purchasing ration products under two categories — Priority Households (PHH) and Non Priority Households (NPHH). The classification was supposed to be done based only on clauses prescribed by the government. According to the GO, people who are Below Poverty Line (BPL), differently abled, families headed by a window or single women, people in vulnerable households and those who enjoy the beneficiary schemes under Old Age Pension are eligible for the PHH category.

Households with at least one member as Income Tax payer, households classified as large farmers, and those with any one of these — Air Conditioner, four-wheeler, three rooms with pucca walls and pucca roof — will be considered as the NPHH. Unfortunately, the State government had not undertaken a thorough census to classify the PHH and NPHH categories and as a result, even those eligible under the PHH category are being identified as NPHH. After finding the NPHH mark in most of the people’s smart cards, Law Foundation co-ordinator C Saravanan filed an RTI seeking the details of the people identified under the PHH and NPHH in the Karavazhi Madampoor village of Thottipalayam in Coimbatore.

“The result was shocking. Most of the elderly people who are beneficiaries of Old Age Pension scheme have been categorised under NPHH and they are not even aware what it means. Later, when we enquired about this at the local ration shop, they too were not aware of it and they pointed fingers towards the higher officials,” Saravanan says. After running from pillar to post, Saravanan has lost hope that the category could be changed at the district level E-centre or in the District Supply Office (DSO) as the officials do not have the option to change the identity of a family from NPHH to PHH or vice versa.

Lack of clarity

Sources in the DSO say that even they wonder how the government had classified the people under these categories without taking a census or asking for data from ground-level workers. Top officials in the DSO say they have sought the help of State government to resolve the issue. “We have a severe manpower crisis. Even if the government asks us to take census, we do not have many ground-level workers,” an official says.

According to the TN Food Security Rules, households classified as NPHH will not be eligible to get ration products in the State. It has also been learnt that only 50.5% of the people could be covered under the PDS scheme when the Food Security Rules are implemented. However, State Minister R Kamaraj had earlier said that the supply of ration products would not be stopped and rules are being framed just to comply with the National Food Security Rules.

Though these food safety rules will not be implemented now, people have started to get their smart cards marked as PHH and NPHH, even though the categorisation was not made as per rules. In the near future, if the government follows the TN Food Security Rules, it would go by the data printed in the smart ration cards. Annually, the State government allocates more than `5000 crore to purchase food grains and sell it at the subsidized rate. The government is already paying `2,393 crore towards the free rice scheme and if the NFSA is implemented, it has to pay `2,730 crore more annually.

Poorly staffed shops

An All India Democratic Women Association’s fact-finding team that went around ration shops across the State, said that there was also severe man-power shortage in ration shops. “In certain shops, the person who issues bills is also deployed to supply the products. With only one person in a shop, it is highly impossible to do all the work.

In certain shops, labourers are hired for daily wages, and the person entrusted with running the shop has to shell out the expenses from his own pocket,” says A Radhika, co-ordinator of the fact-finding team. She also says people are forced to stay away from work for a whole day to get the ration products. “If only one person works in a shop, he cannot deliver the products soon. So, the person who buys ration loses his one day’s wages as they stay in queue,” she said.

According to norms set by the State Government, ration shops in the corporation limit can have two employees, while those in the rural areas, including municipalities, town panchayats and village panchayats, are allowed just one. “Even in the corporation limit, though the sanctioned strength is two, in a majority of the shops, only one person is allocated and they have to do all the work,” V Rajendran, State co-ordinator of Tamil Nadu Ration Shop Employees Union, says.

Seeing red

Rajendran also says the ration shops do not even get the food products regularly. “As far as dhal is considered, we are not getting the regular dhal. We are getting a new kind of masdhur dhal, which is red in colour. People are not willing to opt for this red-coloured dhal. More interestingly, there was a time the State government campaigned against the use of red dhal and now the same government is providing it in ration shops.

Similarly, wheat has become ‘extinct’ in ration shops, even though there is a big demand for it among the people,” Rajendran says. He also says that kerosene that is usually supplied in quantities of 5 and 10 litres, is now available in just two and three litres. When asked about it, Principal Secretary Kumar Jayant said that the department would rectify categorisation mistakes they had committed them in their administration files.

“Mistakes in smart cards cannot be considered as official ones. We will check with the data that we have with us. The identity classification was a long process and it must be correct in the administration database,” he said. About the shortage of items supplied to ration shops, he said that they would rectify it whenever there is a problem. “As far as dhal is considered, the idea behind the supply of dhal is to give protein-rich food. So, when the same protein is available in red-colour dhal, why is there an issue,” he asks.