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Swarn Kaur, a 48-year-old widow from Majri village in Panchkula, Haryana, was hopeful she would at last be able to have at least two square meals a day when she learnt about the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)'s food security scheme, introduced in the state on August 20 last year.
However, four months after the Act was notified in the state, Kaur has not received any grain and does not know whether she is one of the beneficiaries under the scheme. Her name does not yet figure on the list of beneficiaries under the expanded Antyodaya Anna Yojana (which targets the poorest of the poor), despite the fact that she was part of three surveys for the scheme conducted by the state department. Swarn's three children and father-in-law are dependent on her.
Like Kaur's family, there are about 65 families in the village eligible under the Act but yet to receive the smart card or foodgrain promised under the scheme, despite the state including these in its surveys. Worse, in some cases Below Poverty Line (BPL) families have even stopped getting their normal quota of grains from November 2013.
The National Food Security Act, signed in September 2013 by President Pranab Mukherjee, provides a legal entitlement to receive cheap grain to almost 67 per cent of the population. It guarantees five kg of rice, wheat or coarse cereals to each identified beneficiary each month at highly subsidised rates, of Rs 3 a kg for rice, Rs 2 for wheat & Rs 1 for coarse cereals. Haryana is not unique.
In Andhra Pradesh, too, officials said the Act would be implemented fully by June 2014, well after the general elections are over. "With the current political situation in the state not encouraging, we expect implementation only after the general elections," said a state civil supplies department senior.
In fact, as a top official from the Union food ministry told Business Standard, until now, no state, including those that have formally notified the scheme, have approached the Centre with an updated list of beneficiaries. In its absence, states are purchasing grain from the central pool at the old rates, not at the new price.
"State governments will have to adjust this amount later with the Centre," the official said. As BS found out, in Haryana's Majri village, a large section complained about the little on-ground progress of the scheme despite lofty announcements. Similarly, in Andhra, the government plans to introduce e-point of sale system, which helps capture the fingerprints of eligible households to curb leakages but it might take years before it is fully operational.
Sohan Singh another BPL card holder showed his ration card which did not have any new entry since October 2013. “We are finding very difficult to manage. My husband is a daily wager. We didn’t get any wheat or rice from November. We thought that if the government implements the scheme effectively, we would have benefited. in reality though, in the absence of the scheme starting and regular rations, we are forced to buy from the market,” Sohan Singh’s wife complained. Neema Kaur who is phsically challenged also echoed the same sentiment.
In Haryana around 1.2 crore people are to be covered under the Food Act as against the existing 55 lakh ration card holders, while in Andhra Pradesh around 45.9 million people are to covered under the scheme, less than the state’s estimate of 79 million people.
“There are over 65 eligible families, but none have received any communication ... or wheat or rice at subsidised rates, neither did people in the neighboring village of Ramgarh,” Majri headman, Balvir Singh said.
In Haryana around 12 million are to be covered under the Act against 550,000 ration-card holders. In Andhra Pradesh, 45.9 million are to be covered, less than the state’s estimate of 79 million.
