Govt. flayed for inadequate relief work

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, JULY 8. The Magsaysay Award winner, Ms. Aruna Roy, has charged both the Centre and the Rajasthan Government with ``not showing enough sincerity'' in continuing the drought relief work in the State till the next harvest. ``Nobody is concerned about the plight of the rural poor other than providing abundant lip service,'' Ms. Roy, who had led a delegation to Delhi to press for the continuation of relief in Rajasthan, said here on Friday.

Back at the Statue Circle near the Rajasthan Secretariat where the rural people are sitting on an indefinite dharna under the banner of ``Akal Sangarsh Samiti,'' Ms. Roy told newspersons that various Ministries at the Centre were merely passing the buck. ``The basic uncertainty is over which Ministry would bear the expenses despite the commitment from the Union Rural Development Ministry to support the Food for Work programme till September 30,'' she noted.

Ms. Roy who led a five-member delegation to Delhi met the President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, who promised her to write to the Prime Minister on allocation of grains for drought relief. Her team met the Rural Development Minister, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu; the Agriculture Minister, Mr. Nitish Kumar; the Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Mr. Shanta Kumar and the Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, besides members of the Planning Commission and the Secretaries concerned.

``All of them supported the demand. In fact, Mr. Sinha and Mr. Nitish Kumar wanted the grains to be distributed from the godowns at the earliest. Yet I feel that unless there is pressure from the Rajasthan Government nothing will happen,'' she said lamenting that the poor no more figured on the list of priorities.

Ms. Roy expressed resentment at some people calling the dharna for continuation of drought relief as ``anti-national and anti- people.'' ``We are nationalists trying to salvage the grains from rotting in the godowns and at the same time trying to help the starving people,'' she observed.

``It may be a matter of chance that the demands like the present one and the right to information in the past had come up from Rajasthan. Not that there is no poverty in Jharkhand or Orissa or elsewhere,'' she noted while demanding a drought policy at the national level.

Mr. Nikhil Dey, who was part of the delegation to Delhi, said the best way to utilize the overwhelming stocks in FCI godowns would be distributing it as wages to rural poor. ``There is not much demand for these grains abroad. Even if it is exported, it will not fetch them more than Rs. 4.10 per kg when it is valued at Rs. 4.60 with the drought relief labour,'' he pointed out. ``The Government would never be able to realise the calculated value of Rs. 9 per kg of grain stocked,'' he pointed out. Both Ms. Roy and Mr. Dey suggested reforms in the PDS to ensure supply of essential items to the BPL and drought hit APL families.

Even with the offer of 5 kg grains per person, the Rajasthan Government may not be in a position to commit on the continuation of relief work till September. This is because the State would have to pay cash along with the grains besides bearing the expenses on the material component. A way out suggested by the Akal Sangarsh Samiti has been payment of 10 kg of wheat per labourer.

When Ms. Roy and others met Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, he said his Ministry was willing to consider alloting 10 kg grains but said that there should be a specific request from the State in this regard. ``The Rajasthan Chief Minister has written to the Centre in this connection but it was as late as on June 30. Mr. Gehlot knows that it takes time to decide things,'' Ms. Roy noted referring to the war of wits between the Centre and the Rajasthan Government over relief.

The dharna is now on its 23rd day. So far there have been no official talks with the State Government and the demonstrators.

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