Under the new scheme, scheduled to be launched soon in 40 villages in Nashik district of Maharashtra, local revenue officers will assess the villages' foodgrain requirements, collect money for the grain, and then distribute it before the village gram sabha. If this scheme works, it will cut down on rampant pilferage in the country's public distribution system

To plug loopholes in the Public Distribution System (PDS), a pilot project in Nashik district, in Maharashtra state, will deliver foodgrain almost to the consumer's doorstep.

Under the scheme, which will be launched soon in 40 villages in Surguna taluka, Nashik district, those entitled to foodgrain under the PDS will no longer have to trudge every month to the ration shop, which is often many miles away. Instead, local revenue officers will visit the villages, assess the quantity of grain required, and collect money for the same. The next day, the local PDS shop-owner and the officers will distribute the grain before the village gram sabha. The same method will be adopted for the distribution of kerosene.

This will help eliminate fake beneficiaries whose quota is siphoned off into the black market. The PDS shopkeeper will not be able to take the grain to his shop, but must take it directly to the village. The grain will be given in sealed 50 kg sacks to cut down on any pilferage en route.

Cheating in the PDS has led to the loss of huge sums of money to the state exchequer, and to malnutrition among poor families. In 2003-04, 14.07 million tonnes of subsidised grain was issued to the 16 large states for delivery to below the poverty line (BPL) families. Only 5.93 million tonnes was actually delivered. A whopping 8.14 million tonnes of subsidised foodgrain did not reach the poor.

Courtesy www.empowerpoor.org, June 4, 2007