Date:18/09/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/09/18/stories/2004091814691200.htm

National

`TPDS only for Indians, not illegal migrants'

By Gargi Parsai

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 17. A large section of the floating population, pavement dwellers, migrant labour and illegal Bangladeshi migrants are out of the purview of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

In the case of the Bangladeshi migrants, the Central directive is clear. "The TPDS is for Indians; not for illegal migrants," a National Conference of the State Food and Civil Supplies Secretaries was told here today.

S.K. Tuteja, Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies, said the supply of foodgrains should be restricted to ration card holders and the identification of illegal Bangla migrants must be left to the Home Ministry or the local police.

`Freeze unjustified'

The conference shot down the Centre's proposal to "outsource" the identification of Below-the-Poverty Line population to private parties or non-governmental organisations. At present, the work is carried out by panchayats. Most States differed with the Planning Commission's fixed number of BPL population and said the figure was much higher on the ground. They found the "freeze" on the BPL numbers "unjustified''.

According to the Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies, against a total ceiling of 6.52 crore BPL families (as per poverty estimates of the Planning Commission for 1993-94) in the country, the States have issued more than eight crore ration cards. This not only encouraged diversions but also reduced the scale of issue of foodgrains to targeted beneficiaries. It also resulted in the TPDS not being cost-effective and its operations costly. The food subsidy jumped from Rs. 2,450 crores in 1990-91 to Rs. 25, 160 crores in 2003-04.

Uttar Pradesh lauded

The meet recognised the fact that the floating population and migrant labour deserved to be targeted but left it to the States to devise ways and means for doing so. Uttar Pradesh's policy for providing such people temporary "paper permits" was lauded.

`Re-look necessary'

Presiding over the session on identification of beneficiaries, Abhijit Sen, economist, said that keeping in view the variance between the Central and State statistics, the poverty estimates needed to be re-looked. There was no State-wise criterion for poverty. The reduced scale of distribution for larger coverage brought down the nutrition levels of people.

Regretting the diversion of subsidised foodgrains, the Minister of State for Food, Akhilesh Prasad Yadav, urged the States to ensure that there were no hunger deaths in the country. Yet, at the end of the session, it did not look as though there was any Central move to increase the foodgrain allocation or enhance the number of BPL population for larger coverage.