Ration Achilles heel for govt before polls

TT, Calcutta, Feb. 13: Mamata Banerjee's subsidised foodgrain scheme is likely to be an Achilles heel for her government in the run-up to the Assembly polls, with protests over the plan spreading from one district to another.

The developments have revived memories of the 2007-08 flare-up during the Left regime, when hundreds of ration shops across the state were set ablaze in protests against the "faulty" public distribution system.

The problem

According to Nabanna officials, the root of the problem is that around 15 per cent legitimate beneficiaries who had been left out of the purview of the Centre's National Food Security Act, 2013, are yet to be covered under the chief minister's plan.

"They could not be covered under the state government's scheme (launched on January 27) because of faulty planning," an official said.

According to the list of beneficiaries published last year under the NFSA, 6.01 crore people in Bengal were eligible for subsidised foodgrain.

But the central list did not include about 20 per cent of the beneficiaries who used to get cheap foodgrain under the BPL and Antadaya Anna Yojana (AAY) schemes earlier.

CM steps in

Sources said the chief minister, probably sensing that the issue could soon snowball into a bigger problem, launched the Rajya Khadya Suraksha Yojana (RKSY) to provide cheap foodgrain to another 1.5 crore people.

Officials said Mamata did not attack the Centre for excluding around 20 per cent of the beneficiaries from the new list realising that people in rural areas still hold those running the panchayats responsible when deprived. In Bengal, around 70 per cent of the 3,354 panchayats are run by Trinamul.

"But the execution of the RKSY appears to be faulty. Nearly 1.5 crore people were included in the state scheme, but now it appears that around 15 per cent of those not included in the central list are yet to be taken care of," a senior official said.

Sources said the government had made a mistake by engaging the panchayats and municipalities to execute the RKSY. Allegations have been made that the list of beneficiaries has been packed with Trinamul loyalists.

"The Opposition parties have milked the issue and protests are spreading from one district to another.... Ideally, we should have engaged ration dealers. They are in the know of things in the rural areas," a minister said.

As a firefighting measure, Mamata announced on Monday that cheap foodgrain would be made available to all people in the state.

Officials said they were hopeful that in three months, all those left out under the central scheme would get ration cards. But the major concern for the ruling party is that it would be very difficult to resolve the problem before the Assembly elections.

Ad hoc solution

The chief minister's announcement that all 9.2 crore people of Bengal would be eligible for subsidised grain has made the situation more critical, a senior official said.

After Mamata's announcement, the number of beneficiaries has shot up from 7.5 crore to 9.2 crore overnight. The public distribution system in Bengal is not equipped to meet the enhanced foodgrain demand, an official said.

"The requirement of rice for 7.5 crore beneficiaries was 2.5 lakh tonnes a month. It has now shot up to around 3.75 lakh tonnes. It is tough to arrange and supply the additional rice to ration shops in a short time," the official said.

Through a notification on Wednesday, the state government directed ration dealers to issue due slips to consumers if they run short of stock. The slips will mention that foodgrain will be made available within two weeks.

But the dealers are reluctant to adhere to the directive, saying they are not sure that the additional grain would reach them within two weeks.

"The food and supplies department should ask the BDOs to issue the due slips.... I cannot take the risk because I have to depend on the government to get the foodgrain," said a ration dealer in Birbhum.

Not only supply, officials said they would also face problems in arranging the additional foodgrain.

Earlier, the food department had planned to buy 45 lakh tonnes of paddy from farmers to get 30 lakh tonnes of rice in a year and meet the monthly rice requirement of 2.5 lakh tonnes.

"Now, we have to buy around 68 lakh tonnes of paddy to meet the monthly rice requirement of 3.75 lakh tonnes. We don't have the infrastructure," an official said.

Storage of such a huge quantum of foodgrain would be another problem for ration dealers.

"According to the plan, we were supposed to develop our storage capacity in phases over the next one year.... But right now, I don't know how to store the additional foodgrain," a ration dealer said.