Radical reforms in PDS recommended

Expressbuzz, March 23, 2010
BHUBANESWAR: The PDS in Orissa does not stand for public distribution system, rather, a `perpetual dishonesty structure’ orchestrated by the Government agencies with politicians as bandleader.


This is the impression of the recently submitted report of the Justice Wadhwa Committee appointed by the Apex Court to look into the functioning of PDS in Orissa.

A clinical inquiry by the committee reveals how murky the system is.

The malady afflicts right from the identification of the BPL beneficiaries to diversion of food grains meant for the targeted public distribution system (TPDS). Prudent implementation procedures, vigilance mechanisms and enforcement machineries have been confined to statute books.

The Committee reveals how the laws were tailor-made to institutionalise corruption in the system. It noted that the State appoints private storage agents to store the PDS commodities allocated to it even when the Panchayati Raj Department has 6,000 godowns of 50 MT capacity and 300 godowns of 100 MT capacity. The disinclination of the Orissa State Civil Supplies Corporation (OSCSC) to hire these godowns is ostensible to facilitate diversion of PDS commodities.

The storage agent must be done away with as it is the main source of diversion of PDS grains in Orissa, the report has emphasised.

Placing a political appointee as chairperson of the OSCSC since 2002 has also led to political meddling in the selection of the storage agents with all procedures being given a go by. Justice Wadhwa has stressed the need for professional functioning of the Corporation with the Secretary of the Food and Supplies Department as its head.

The committee found that retailers were appointed on the recommendations of the Block Level Advisory Committees (BLAC) or Taluk Level Advisory Committees (TLAC), which were also supposed to act as the Vigilance Committees under the Orissa PDS Control Order. But the bodies have least bother for vigilance and met only when a dealer has to be appointed. The Vigilance Committees were almost defunct and records testified that they did not meet even once in several districts like Balangir and Kalahandi.

Observing that manual weighing in godowns was susceptible to diversion, it has produced that godowns tore bags and pilfered 2-3 kg per bag to churn out 15-20 extra bags for every 100 quintals rice mainly to divert them.

Recycling by millers and faulty weighing at godowns are open.

“There is unholy nexus between transporters, storage agents, fair price shop owners, Department of Food and Civil Supplies, OSCSC officials in large-scale diversion of PDS food grains meant for the poor,” it noted.

Quoting the Orissa Human Development Report that attributes food insecurity/hunger deaths to lack of access to the PDS and its limited utilisation by the poor and vulnerable, the Committee has underlined an urgent need for cleansing the system.