Commentl

(UN)Fair Price Shops

The left has been demanding distribution of 14 essential items through Fair Price Shops under the Public Distribution System (PDS) for long. They are also demanding abolition of BPL and APL categories when it is the question of rationing. But the Centre has been systematically dismantling PDS for the last two decades or so. With market euphoria dominating every aspect of political scenario, people are losing faith in ration shops otherwise the dens of corruption. In truth there is no valid reason to distinguish between BPL and APL cardholders as people belonging to APL category are equally affected by inflation that erodes real wages all the time. Surprisingly, people, particularly rural people in poorer states look disinterested in whatever remains of PDS.

Less than 12% of the rural population in Bihar use ration shops to buy rice. In West Bengal, less than 6% rice consumed by rural families purchase rice from ration shops. Around 21% of rural families in Uttar Pradesh buy rice at government controlled shops. This is in contrast to the richer states, where 91% of rural population in Tamil Nadu and 75% of the rural population in Karnataka, purchase wheat and rice from ration shops. Rural families in low income states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal depend far less on ration shops for rice and wheat, where the national average for rice being 39.2% and wheat 27.6%. States with a strong private sector market for food-grains are also delivering on public distribution of grains. Despite the weak consumption of PDS rice, pulses and wheat, purchase of kerosene from ration shops remain high in poor states, viz Uttar Pradesh 90.4%, Bihar 93.8% and Rajasthan 87%, with the all India average kerosene purchases from ration shops being 81.8%. In southern states, many electoral promises are linked to the public distribution system. The weak delivery system is prominent in states with low income indicators. Homegrown stocks provide less than 11% of pulses consumed in rural India. Share of milk as homegrown product has fallen to about 59%.

One reason villagers in poorer states avoid ration shops is very poor quality rice is distributed through them. Their too much dependence on subsidised kerosene indicates among other things the slow progress of rural electrification in these states. Corruption is so deep rooted in ration shops that they may be aptly described as (un)fair price shops.

Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 34, Mar 3-9, 2013

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