Centre gets tough with States on PDS

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 2. Against the backdrop of starvation deaths in some parts of the country, the Centre today made it mandatory for States to identify all families below the poverty line (BPL) within three months, issue them ration cards, check irregularities, regulate distribution and monitor the Public Distribution System (PDS) to ensure that they received the foodgrains meant for them.

The directive, issued under the Essential Commodities Act, calls for accountability, fixing responsibility and invoking punitive measures against shirkers.

Announcing this at a press conference here today, the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Mr. Shanta Kumar, said that the subsidy and allocation of foodgrains would depend on utilisation by States. This was to increase offtake and ensure proper distribution. In view of the BPL and Antodaya beneficiaries, ration shops should be asked to distribute foodgrains once a week, instead of once a month.

``The order, which has punitive provisions for violation of guidelines, has given a legal shape to the directives given to States by the Centre from time to time to plug irregularities in the PDS system and make ration shops accountable.''

The punishment for violations of the order vary from imprisonment between three months and seven years and a fine. At the same time, there is also a provision to award shops and panchayats which work well.

Mr. Shanta Kumar said only 19 States had identified Antodaya yojna for the poorest of the poor; under the new directive, it was mandatory for all States and Union Territories to do so within three months. Most starvation deaths have occurred in States which are yet to complete the identification of the poorest of the poor for providing wheat at Rs. 2 per kg and rice at 3. About 5 crore people will benefit under the Antodaya scheme.

The Minister said the order would strengthen the hands of the States for weeding out bogus ration cards and for dealing with ration shops which do not display stocks and send data on the receipt and distribution of foodgrains every month to a district officer. The districts would collate the statistics and furnish them to the Centre for a country-wide position of the availability of foodgrains.

It would be on this basis that the next allocation would be made and in case of detection of any diversion, the allocation would be put on hold.

All these provisions were already present in the Act; only, the Centre has decided to enforce them now.

PTI reports:

The Centre had decided to hold talks with States on a ``one to one basis'' to persuade them to accept the decentralised foodgrains procurement (DFP) proposal and zeroed in on Karnataka, Bihar and Assam, Mr. Shanta Kumar said.

The Food Secretary, Mr. R. D. Kapur, said meetings would be held with the Chief Secretaries of these States here on September 15 to discuss the possibility of DFP ``to some extent''.

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