Food Security Bill will make PDS dysfunctional, says CPI(M)

Jammu and Kashmir unit of CPI(M) today hit out at the state government for rampant "corruption" in Public Distribution System and sought to curtail the unproductive expenditure.
The state secretary of CPI(M), M Y Tarigami, also flayed the Food Security Bill.
Criticising the Food Security Bill which is pending in the Parliament, Tarigami said "the proposed legislation will make PDS dysfunctional".
The CPI(M) leader attacked the state government for malpractice in ration distribution.
"The pilferage and a trend of malpractices is causing scarcity of ration, black-marketing and hoarding with a telling impact on the people," said Tarigami.
The Left leader was addressing a public rally at Manchewa in south Kashmir.

Tarigami said ration is being provided to the households based on 2001 census figures, and the government does not bother about the families that have split since 2001 and are in need of ration.

He claimed the government was not in a mood to infuse responsiveness and accountability in its machinery to solve the peoples' problems.
"The state government must cut the unproductive expenditure and spend it on food for poor, the way ration is being provided at the rate of Rs 2 per Kg in few states.
"The present poverty line figures of Rs 26 a day for an adult in rural India and Rs 32 in urban India continues to be the basis for access to PDS, which means large sections of the poor will be legally excluded from the right to food," he said.

Referring to the recent hike in electricity tariff, Tarigami said the consumers in the state are being charged to pay for "darkness".
"We have to pay power tariff despite no electricity available and whenever people try to lodge their protest, police is brought to muzzle their voice," he alleged.
Tarigami asked the government to take ground realities into consideration and rescind the "anti people" decision.
"Let the government plug transmission and distribution losses, which is mainly responsible for the shortfall in the revenue realisation," he said.