A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West

Bengal

A REPORT ON THE FUNCTIONING OF THE TARGETTED PUBLIC DELIVERY SYSTEM IN THE DATAN 1 BLOCK OF WEST MEDNIPORE DISTRICT OF WEST BENGAL

Prepared By Mrinalini Paul Masters' Student Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West Bengal

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Public Distribution System after becoming targeted in 1997, is continuously being marred with controversy due to lack of transparency in its functioning. The aim of this survey was the study of the TPDS in its present functioning condition and the effectiveness of monitoring bodies in place to regulate this functioning. The process adopted for this study was such that it covered 3 levels and used the aid of a questionnaire to collect data. The 3 levels were namely, at the Fair Price Shop, the public, ie beneficiaries who are entitled to the services of the PDS, the administrative officials, ie the Gram Pradhan or members of the Gram Panchayat, the Food Inspector, the Khadya Karmadhyakhsha and the Block Development Officer. The study was conducted over two phases, each spanning a period of 6 days and covering 2 Modified Ration Shop (MRS) under each Gram Panchayat (GP), in the Datun Block of West Medinipore district, which has 9 GPs under it.In all, 18 shops and 148 beneficiaries were covered The main findings and most glaring irregularities found almost in each of the 18 shops visited, can mainly be listed as: the absence of ration cards in the hands of most of the villagers; the absence of boards outside the MR shops, stating basic information such as stock rates, quotas, list of beneficiaries; the malpractice of distributing lesser grains than the allotments made (of 148 beneficiaries introduced , only 5 reported receiving the correct amount ; the widespread lack of awareness among the beneficiaries about their rightful dues; lack of accountability and transparency on the part of the dealers; the ad hoc-ism in the registers they maintain; the absence of the practice of giving cash memos; and the entire TPDS functioning on a whole lot of spurious and outdated information.

Another important observation of the survey is that the people have no faith in the system, as they have a helpless attitude though they are fully aware at times of the dealers misdeeds; again, there is also the dealers helplessness regarding certain systematic flaws in the TPDS such as lesser allotments of grains being made to their shop. As far as the shop level committees go, though they have been formed on paper, their powers and functions remain unclear. The atmosphere reeks of corruption, however, the reason for it being so, stems from both, administrative as well as public lethargy. The influence of the survey, apart from a fact-finding mission, grew into an awareness spreading campaign as well. An immediate upgradation of records and the signal for change of the prevailing conditions of TPDS, with effective grievance redressal and public monitoring systems is the only way to ensure that the poor receive their much needed supply of foodgrains.

Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West Bengal

Introduction How exactly does one conduct a survey on the functioning of the PDS? The question is one which propped up during the survey itself and, remains unanswered even after the survey is completed. However, the process adopted for this study was such that it covered 3 levels and used the aid of a questionnaire to collect data. The 3 levels were namely, at the Fair Price Shop, the public, ie beneficiaries who are entitled to the services of the PDS, the administrative officials, ie the Gram Pradhan or members of the Gram Panchayat. The study was conducted over two phases, each spanning a period of 6 days and covering 2 Modified Ration Shop (MRS) under each Gram Panchayat (GP), in the Datan 1 Block of West Medinipore district, which has 9 GPs under it. This report aims to list out the findings of this survey, of certain prevailing conditions of TPDS and the effect of these on the most needy and vulnerable sections of our society, for whom TPDS in place to provide food security. The survey was conducted under the guidance and help of Paschim Bangal Khet Majoor Samity(PBKMS) that has been working on various social issues with and for the farm laborers in West Bengal since the past 25 years. The concerned authorities, namely the Block Development Officer, Food Commissioner, were faxed and informed prior to the survey being conducted. The sample size is summarized in the table below. Additional interviews were conducted with Gram Pradhans of GP Nos:4,8,5 and 9. The number of shops covered were 18, with 148 cardholders interviewed, of which 61 were BPL, 50 AAY and 37 APL card holders. See Annexure 1 for details. The primary aim of the study was to evaluate the functioning of the TPDS and also the effectiveness of the vigilance committees that are already in place to monitor the TPDS. The study involved both a qualitative and quantitative methodology, as the questions involved both in-depth data collection and also numerical data. A BRIEF INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE PDS SYSTEM The Public Distribution System (PDS) is a means of distributing essential food grains and other basic commodities at subsidized prices through Fair Price Shops. Every family is supposed to have a ration card. In 1997, the PDS became targeted: different ration cards were issued to households Below Poverty Line(BPL) and those Above Poverty Line(APL), and each
Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West Bengal

category has different entitlements. In 2001 Antyodaya cards were introduced as a sub category of BPL cards. During the course of my visit to the block for data collection there were a range of concerns in regards to the functioning of the TPDS in the villages visited. Listed below are the primary concerns which need to be addressed at the earliest. RATION CARD ISSUES The first alarming finding seems to be the completely warped and confusing set-up of the BPL, APL and AAY name lists present in the ration shop. This is where primarily all the confusion seems to lie and hence giving rise to ignorance on the part of the beneficiary and scope of manipulation on the part of the dealers. The original lists present in these shops dates back to 1997 and no new BPL card has been issued after that. However, in 2008, new BPL AAY Annapurna cards had been issued but canceled by the Kolkata High Court, since the process involved was not transparent. Many still hold on to these canceled ration cards. Hence in the present scenario, the villager is full of doubts. If he had a ration card, it is either lost (by himself, or in many cases in the floods), or has been submitted to the ration dealer and then forgotten about, and is now left without anything. However, in few villages, almost 40% of the population had a ration card. In one of the GP ration shop, another interesting innovation was found. The ration dealer had made little notebooks for the villagers with APL/BPL/AAY written on the front page and then their weekly transactions are recorded. WIDESPREAD UNAWARENESS The problem with the Ration cards provides the foundation for lack of transparency and accountability. In certain shops, since the villagers are not quite certain about their name and their family members name belonging to whether APL, BPL or AAY, they are unprepared to demand their fair share. Though the provision for the dealer to show, in fact hang outside the shop, the list of beneficiaries under each APL, BPL & AAY category is clearly stated in the Supreme Courts Order (28 Nov,2001 PUCL vs Union of India and other in Writ Petition 196/2001), not a single shop that was visited complied to the guidelines in a meaningful way. Hence even if lists were found in certain shops, they were not hung in an accessible place and when examined, the paper seemed too fragile to hold in ones hand, leave alone to be scanned for a particular name in a particular household. Hence in places where people were without their ration cards, were at the mercy of the dealers, to be categorized into one of the above mentioned three categories.
Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West Bengal

The lack of access to information regarding the categories and the alloted quantity to the people is an essential reason towards the malfunctioning of TPDS. The people, unaware of their rights are under the impression that the role of the dealer is a humanistic one, indulging in social work rather than a money making profession. And hence people believe the often offered justification of FPS owners that dealership is not profitable and therefore the need to perhaps indulge in offshop activities. This unawareness leads to another form of exploitation, where quantities of grains are not reaching the villagers but have reached the shop. Another outcome of this gross unawareness is found when none of the APL beneficiaries had ever known that rice is allotted to them. Under TPDS an APL beneficiary is allotted a quantity of rice once out of the 4 weeks in a month, this generally being the first week of the month, however, on meeting and interacting with select APL beneficiaries in the villages, none apart from perhaps 3-4 out of the 37 interviewed, were aware and hence receiving their due. Again in many FPS which were visited during the first week of May, certain APL beneficiaries who had come to collect their ration for the week, were informed by the survey team of their rice allotment. LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY The widespread unawareness and the non-existent ration cards are the 2 primary reasons spurring the TPDS to self destruction and offering wide scope for the dealers to add to this destruction. The lack of transparency and accountability in the functioning of these FPS is rampantly available on checking the various registers that are supposed to be maintained by each dealer of each shop. Every FPS is meant to maintain a log book, ie where the weekly allotments made to the ration shop are written and stamped by the dealer that provides the grains and the food inspector who signs on the quantity allotted. At times an allotment is written, stamped and signed in advance, before the grains are delivered to the dealer. These records do not have much scope to be tampered with, but yes, many dealers self-confessed that many times the quantity being recorded is not exactly the quantity being delivered to their doorstep, and hence it is safe to conclude that a beneficiarys share starts dwindling from the very start. However, the present study had no way of validating such claims made by dealers, since the survey began at the FPS, and not before. Nevertheless, these allotment records play another very important role, a copy of this is to be sent to each GP (Gram Panchayat), where it is to be displayed and hence generate awareness among the villagers of the amount that their FPS has been allotted for the following week. This could ultimately lead to APL beneficiaries demanding for their share of rice, as and when it is allotted to them, and hence the problem discussed earlier, could be curbed.
Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West Bengal

The dealer is often heard telling his customers that he cannot give them more since the sarkar has given less for this week. The authenticity of this statement can be checked by the villagers themselves if they had easy and regular access to this allotment copy. On checking the respective FPSs log book though, the authenticity of this statement is proved wrong, since the same allotment is made almost every week. It is the duty of the Block office to generate and distribute this copy to each of the GPs under the block, however, on interaction with the BDO, it was found that it was not possible for them to distribute a copy to each GP and hence someone from that GP had to come collect it. On interaction with the Gram Panchayat officials, an interesting observation is made, this system of collecting the allotment copy, becomes rarer and rarer as one moves away and away(physical distance-wise) from the BDO Office at Dantan 1. Infact in GP 4, on interaction with the Panchayat officials, they asked the survey team for an allotment copy every week, since they were unable to access it from the Block. Also, another significant calculation made on data received from the allotment book, is the number of units, which then has been multiplied by the individual allotment against each unit and the amount is not matched to the total weekly allotment made to the dealer. For instance given below is the data for 5 random MR Shops:(every week almost the same quantity of grain is allotted) MR SHOP NO 32 CATEGORY TOTAL NO OF ALLOTTMENT GIVEN UNITS X PER UNIT SHARE 2150x600 quintal 1102x1 quintal gm=12.9 11.46 quintal SHORTAGE

APL(wheat)

144 kg

38

BPL (rice)

kg=11.02 10.90 quintal

12 kg

26 17

BPL (rice) APL (wheat)

2000x1kg=20 quintal

17.75 quintal

225 kg 302.2 kg

3137x600gm=18.82200 15.80 quintal quintal 2712.5x600gm=16.275 quintal 15.38 quintal

24

APL ( wheat)

89.5 kg

Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West Bengal

The above calculations bring to light an even more disconcerting fact. Apart from the problems existing at the shop-level of TPDS, the allotments being issued from the district level seem grossly inadequate. On discussing this with the Food Inspector, it was found out that the block is quite unaware of the allotments being made. This weekly shortage of foodgrains being made needs to be immediately addressed, as it also serves as a source of excuses used by the dealer to the beneficiaries. The other register that is to be maintained by the dealer of each shop is the Sale Register. This records the transactions made over the week and hence provides a record of the total quantity that has been sold with the folio number( no. written on top of a ration card) against each transaction made. This data was meaningless without the names of those whose folio numbers were found in the sales register. Hence the lists or books (of APL BPL AAY respectively) were asked for and the folio numbers recorded in the sales register were looked for here. This task seemed almost impossible to do. In the process though few remarkable observations were made. For instance, in many cases, against a certain folio no. that has been sold grains, the name corresponding to this no, could not be found in the list of names. Secondly, while searching for names corresponding to the folio nos. picked up from the sales register, blank spaces were found. Thirdly, against few of these nos. the names found had been struck off. These observations basically proved that the Sales Registers were not a genuine record of the transactions being made. This conclusion could also be arrived at by other observations, for instance, apart from 2 out of the 18 FPSs visited, none practiced giving cash memos. Hence though the dealer claimed that he gave the grains to the villagers on the basis of so many years of experience, hence even though they did not possess ration cards, he had over the years, come to recognize them and the number of units they possessed, and based on this he distributed grains on a weekly basis. Though this claim could be believed, what remains unbelievable, is how he manages to remember, without any written record whatsoever, the details on a weekly basis, in order to enter them into the sale register. Apart from this, it is a well-known fact that the sales register is made much after the actual sales by retired schoolmasters. Each sales register checked showed weekly closing balance of nil. Even if skilled professionals are hired to maintain this record, the problem lies elsewhere; the right way of maintaining a sales register is noting down in fair from the cash memos the transactions that have been made. However, the observations put forward above, provide ample proof that this is not being followed. A completely falsely created sales register allows the dealer various openings for siphoning off grains to other sources. The beneficiary himself has no written proof of the quantity of grains when; hence on collection of data from the field, the survey relied on the word of the respondent as to how much he receives from his FPS. Hence the Nil balance in the register cannot be
Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West Bengal

challenged and the dealer is again given his entire amount of allotment, the next week as well, regardless of the sacks full safely stocked off in some godown., left over from the previous weeks. For instance in MR Shop No. 36 on a Monday i.e. after the distribution for the week was done, 4.5 quintal rice, 5.5 quintal wheat and 90 kgs of atta was found. However, the sales register did not fail to show nil as the closing balance. Few others are smarter and do not stock their remaining grain in the shop but somewhere else, in apprehension of another raid. While checking the sales register and the beneficiary list of APL BPL AAY, a minimum of 3 names were picked up from each of the 3 categories and these beneficiaries were then searched for and interviewed. The data collected in this process, included 2 main entries: the no. of units under each beneficiarys name, as taken from the dealers records, and then, on asking these beneficiaries themselves, the actual amount that they receive. The discrepancy between both further illustrates the falsity of the Sales Register records, and hence the huge amounts of grains that are being denied from those who have a right over it. In this process of inquiry, simultaneously, as it was found that beneficiaries were receiving lesser than what they are entitled to, they were told of their rightful dues, and hence simultaneously, with a fact-finding survey, an awareness-spreading campaign also took shape. Another, interesting finding in the due process, was that, many of the names of beneficiaries picked up from the dealers lists, could not be found in the villages! This happened with 15 persons during our study. This brought to light another major racket of the TPDS, i.e. there were many people in the register, who had died, or were not living in that particular village any longer, but their allotments were being made to the dealer, and even more surprisingly, were being sold to them (since their corresponding folio nos. found in the dealers sales register and/or also in the lists of names, as not struck off). The quantitative data thus collected is presented as Annexure 2 In few villages where the Scheduled Tribes were more in number the above statistics seemed even more alarming, thus emphasizing the fact that the most needy and most vulnerable are always the most exploited. In such villages, on interaction with the villagers, it is found that many of them are so poor that they cannot collect the amount of money required to go collect their weekly rations. In such cases another illegal practice of the ration shops in this block, assumes greater priority to be redressed; i.e. the rule of keeping the FPS open for five and a half days is not being followed.

Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West Bengal

None of the 18 visited shops follow this rule. While most open on Saturdays and Sundays only, few open only on Saturday evening and Sunday morning(MR Shop No. 30,GP 8) In this scenario the poor villagers who are unable to get hold of the stipulated amount of money on these 2 days, have to go without their weeks share. The rule to allow beneficiaries collect their share in installments( permit the BPL household to buy the ration in installments. Supreme Court Order dated 2 May,2003) is not paid any attention to either. In the villages under GP 3 and 5(specifically) another aspect of the TPDS came to light. Here, the villagers who belong mostly to the Lodha community, come to buy their rations on a regular basis, only to sell it off a few moments later, to a private shop owner, at a much higher price. Though such cases were few, the reason for such a practice could perhaps be pointed at the drawback of the governments often one-size-fits-all policy. Under such a planning, TPDS beneficiaries in a state like West Bengal receives individual entitlements of wheat and in the case of BPL packets of atta. The non-requirement of these items is proved by the fact that hardly any beneficiary receives less of atta/wheat, and also many choose to not pick up their share of these 2 from the FPS. The demand for the same things rises again in winter, but now it almost goes wasted and unused. The practice of eating chapattis in Bengal rural households is not common and hence the TPDS could perhaps function better if not only the population is targeted but also the things being distributed through it. THE ADMINISTRATIVE LEVEL The 5 and a half day issue when discussed at the Block, with the BDO, the Food Inspector, and Khadya Karmadhyakhsa. All of them claimed that a resolution had been passed saying that three to three and a half days was enough for the shop to remain open. However, when asked no copy of such a resolution could be provided, and none seemed to have seen it with their own eyes. It was a practice or malpractice that had been going on for long time now and seemed to have become the norm. The survey as mentioned earlier was conducted in 2 phases. In between both these phases an interim report was submitted to the BDO (Block Development Officer) regarding the findings during the first phase. The report was discussed at the meeting (17.6.2012) where all the ration dealers had been called and also, the block level vigilance committee was present. At the meeting the dealers were urged and almost threatened to comply by certain basic guidelines that were being flouted at present, and which had been brought to light through the report. These included conditions such as displaying of boards with allotment, quotas, prices, written on them, outside the shop for the general viewing of the public. During the first phase of the study, it was
Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West Bengal

found that such display boards were hardly found in any shops, and even if they were present, the writing on them was illegible and hence did not serve its purpose of generating an awareness among the people. The second phase of this study, taken up 13 days after the meeting, found no changes in these conditions. The only change perhaps was in the attitude of the dealers, who seemed more open and ready for change in the TPDS as a whole. They were all the more ready to accept their mistakes and tried to put all the blame on the larger system of which they were just cogs in the wheel. While the difficulties involved in checking the records of the dealers has been mentioned earlier, it is important to note that the Food Inspector is the only person authorized to make official visits and recommend necessary actions where and when he feels the need. On an interview with the Food Inspector, he put forward his own limitations and tried to justify the present condition of the TPDS by admitting its faults and at the same time stating that nothing much could be done. However, the initiative to form shop-level committees had been taken up with quite a gusto. The survey attempted to enquire the process involved in the formation process. In most of the GPs it was found that a hurried decision was taken to decide on the names and a close nexus could be drawn between the APL, BPL representatives (required to be on the committee) and the political party in power in that hamlet. In the course of the surveys, the dealer was also asked regarding the inspection pattern, where though each answered in the positive saying that the food inspector would visit on a regular basis, no records matched this claim. For instance, in MR Shop No. 32 the inspector visited on 23.4.2012 but no written report or entry made in the inspection book. The same was shared by the dealer of MR Shop No. 17. Again in MR Shop No. 38, the inspection book showed a last entry of 10.2.2012 and before on 26.8.2010. Hence the existing framework of supervision or monitoring seizes to exist even on paper over here. Another aspect revealed during interviews with the Gram Pradhan of more than 2 GPs, was a sense of dissatisfaction with the concept of shop-level committees, since they felt they were not being given enough power to take concrete action against any dealer, even if required. CONCLUSION The chances of being able to collect accurate data for a survey on the TPDS is highly impractical due to the many discrepancies in the records and the lack of functioning of the FPS at a very basic level. There seems to be a general sense of disinterest among the various monitoring committees to look at the proper functioning of the FPS. The fact that there is lack of proper,
Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West Bengal

regular supervision by the concerned officials has also led to the current situation as they have also contributed to the malfunctioning system by not doing their duty as prescribed in the rule books. The dealers for their part are just making use of an already corrupt and malfunction system to their best use which has gone unnoticed by the people as they themselves are unaware of their rights. The lack of transparency in the details and the record books has worsened the situation. The authorities in the GP who are responsible for maintaining and verifying the record books of the FPS do not even get a chance to do so as they have been left out of the loop completely. The scope of public agitation in the villages visited and surveyed, seemed limited. As mentioned earlier, the meekness on the part of the people and the taken-for-granted superiority of the dealer, is a mindset that acts as a major setback hence. However, almost every second villager interviewed, seemed dissatisfied and angry with his/her local MR Shop dealings. The people under MR Shop No. 24, 30, 15, in particular, on interaction with, came across as very agitated and willing to demand their rights, therefore, proper mobilization and peoples action might assume a role in the reformatory process of the TPDS functioning. The people under MR Shop No. 14 had agitated after catching hold of their dealer red-handed, offering a bribe to the Food Inspector(4-5 years ago). However, all that happened was that the population responsible for this protest, was tagged to another dealer, MR Shop No. 15. Even if the authorities felt that this step would curb corruption in some way, the people concerned are now facing a new kind of a problem. The dealer who has received a tag on this extra population, has appointed 2 workers in his shop, one from the village he used to originally supply grain to, and another from the village where the tagged population is from. However, these 2 do not distribute grain at the same time, hence of the 3 days in totality for which the shop remains opened, the tagged population can go to collect their share only during 2 shifts (namely, Friday evening and Saturday first half, which amounts to only a day). Secondly a part of the population that was not part of this agitation directly, continue to receive grains from the dealer who was caught in the act. Hence, the villagers do not seem to see much hope in their efforts. The possibility of having ration shops in the names of organizations like collectives, Self Help Groups(SHGs), co-operatives, instead of individual leadership, has often been considered as an option that could curb corruption. In MR Shop no. 11, owned and controlled by Bejda Milani SKUS Ltd., situated in Ganpada village, the picture received on interviewing the beneficiaries did not seem all that different from other shops. In the BPL category 4 out of the 5 interviewed,
Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

A report on the functioning of the targeted public delivery system in the Datan 1 block of West Mednipore district of West Bengal

seemed to be receiving lesser than their allotment, in the AAY category, the amount of wheat the beneficiaries received fell short of their allotments. While the Food Inspector shared that he has a staff of only 2 people, a meager monthly travel allowance, and no proper infrastructure or office to function from, the responsibility of more than one Block under him, and at the same time only a few months left to bear these limitations and try to work something out; the people of the village are left at the mercy of the dealers, or to put it better, the overall functioning of the TPDS. Therefore, it is clearly evident that for the situation of the TPDS to improve and function at its basic level there needs to be a complete transformation of the entire system essentially at the monitoring level by the Food inspector and the GP members, the better functioning and more powers to the shop-level committees the members of whom should be elected in a much more democratic manner, Constant inspection and supervision by the block official and regular meetings in which representatives of all the stakeholders of the TPDS participate and the decisions publicized throughout the block. Finally, if one wants to clean up a system which is immersed in such high levels of malfunctioning and corruption, information of all forms must reach every single person in the respective places, make people aware of their rights under the policy and law which would increase the active participation of the people towards a better functioning of the TPDS.

Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS