M J Antony: Let 'em eat data!

The SC pitches for computerisation to clean up the PDS system

If drawing the poverty line is so contentious, the faltering hands of the planners must find it even more difficult to follow the complex contours sketched by the Supreme Court in its orders on the public distribution system (PDS). Finding the poor in this country should be the easier part.

The real challenge is to implement the court’s past orders intended to take the foodgrain, which overfloweth in government godowns, to the hungry. Some directions have been called impractical by the food minister. The court is passing more orders nevertheless.

Last month, it had given several directions to state governments. Next week, it is scheduled to ask the chief secretaries about their implementation. They have to state how much additional foodgrain is required for the poorest districts in their states. Allocation according to the needs should be made within two weeks thereafter. The chief secretaries must ensure that the foodgrain allocated is lifted within two weeks.

 

The court has asked an additional solicitor general to make sure that the project of computerisation of the public distribution data is implemented “as expeditiously as possible”. This is urgent since in some places units in the ration cards exceeded even the area’s population. Elimination of ghost ration cards is a priority.

The court had appointed a high power committee to study the computerisation of the PDS. It has reported appalling lapses in the system and recently made 15 recommendations, including nine urgent steps. Among the urgent steps: the state governments will ensure door-step delivery of foodgrain for ration shops in a time-bound manner and shall ensure that information related to the movement and availability is available in the public domain; construction of a PDS information portal; digitised database of ration cards on websites; and a toll-free number for registering grievances.

In the longer term, computerisation of the PDS should consist of three primary components, according to the recommendations. They are: creating and updating beneficiary database, stocks management from the Food Corporation of India till the fair-price shops and sale of the commodities. The delivery and management system must be transparent. Another ambitious suggestion is dissemination of information about the availability of foodgrain through an SMS to pre-identified individuals in the local community to enable social audit.

End-to-end computerisation of the distribution system may consist of two parts. The first will deal with diversions, leakages, delays in allocation and transportation, inappropriate distribution and other vices dogging the system. The remedy suggested is computerisation of the complete supply-chain management up to the shop level. This data should also be transparent and available in the public domain.

The second component is electronic authentication of delivery and payments at the fair-price shop level. This will ensure that each card-holder will get his entitlement. Though some states have already started implementing smart cards and food coupons, the committee was not satisfied with the success of these projects. They need re-engineering.

However, the system followed by Chhattisgarh government is recommended and other states are advised to follow that method. The Gujarat government has also gone forward in adopting some aspects of these schemes and the states that have not taken steps in this direction are requested to learn from the experience of these two states.

Though the petition moved by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties has been before the court for the past 10 years, its progress was snail-paced due to several reasons. The apathy of the state and central governments is the most glaring one. Replies are not filed on time or not filed at all by the authorities, raising suspicion that there is a powerful lobby in every state that wants to stall equitable distribution of foodgrain.

Even after years of persuasion, calling chief secretaries to the court and threat of drastic action, what are filed are mostly vague compliance reports that skirt the main issues. Meanwhile, the volumes containing affidavits and counter affidavits have filled nearly seven volumes at last count. It is a moot point whether the two judges can study the progress made in some 30 states and Union Territories whose governments do not appear to be as sincere and devoted as them.

The court, on its part, has stretched the scope of the petition too much, making it unwieldy by any judicially-manageable standards. Apart from food distribution, the same petition now deals with many human rights issues that cannot apparently be solved except with divine intervention. They include the welfare of neglected and street children, provision of drinking water and hand pumps, night shelters and the state of Anganwadis. Next week will see the 40th hearing of the case in 10 years. But what hits our ears now is the raucous row over Rs 32/26 a day to qualify for the BPL status.