Who should be given free food grains ?

 

Who should be given free food grains?

 Food rationing is a system that has existed in the country since the 1960s. This system helped to reduce starvation deaths and hardships to some extent. During my childhood, the ration shop was the breadwinner. Things were as if the ration shop owner was like a feudalist and the cardholder was at his mercy. Rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene are mainly obtained from ration shops. It was a lot of work to remove worms, stones, weeds, mud and various seeds from the rice to make it edible. Nowadays we look first at the expiry  date of the food we buy. If you see a worm or something in rice and wheat, you will be afraid and void eating it. These are all habits, or lifestyles that have come together.

       The ration shop owners used to do a lot of fraud like reducing the weight, recording more than given in the ration card, diverting good rice directly from the godown to the market. If the rice is bad, it will be given without glitch. After eating the bad quality rice, the hand has a bad smell. It would last for a day.

         Later, when the financial situation improved and life moved on, the ration card was no longer used. I have no ration card since 1987. With the advent of globalization and liberalisation, a large society has used the ration card as an identity card and a tool to obtain income certificates. With the passage of time, when Aadhaar card came, the relevance of the ration card decreased further. But the quality of ration items has improved. Digital technologies have come in to prevent fraud. Yet despite all this, ration scams continue. Many people whose standard of living has improved have stopped buying rations. Many of the buyers even end up giving it to pets or reselling it.

 With the coming of the National Food Security Act, the method of above (APL)and below the poverty line(BPL) categorization  has changed. Now the customers are classified as Priority Households (PHH), Antyodaya Anna Yojana  and Non-Priority Households (NPHH) categories. In the priority category, a person is given 5 kg of food grains per month. Rice at Rs 3, wheat at Rs 2 and small grain at Rs 1 per kg. In Antyodaya Annayojana, 35 kg of food grains are provided per card. Food grains are provided at a slightly higher rate to the non-priority category. Quantity is also low. While Tamil Nadu provides free rice to all card holders, Kerala, Bengal and Karnataka provide 50 kg rice free to the priority category. In other states, out of 50 kg of rice, 25 kg is provided free of cost and the rest at subsidized rates.

                Surveys reveal that where the technology is well-practiced, there is relatively less diversion, but a large amount of food is wasted in one way or other. Currently, about 71 crore people are included in the priority list. An effort is now being made to find out the people who really needs free ration. Humans generally have a tendency to abuse what is free. As global food production declines, the importance of each grain increases. In this situation, instead of providing rations, community kitchens should be made widespread, popular and transparent. It is also relevant that there is no possibility of reselling the cooked food. It can be implemented as one  kitchen for 100 families. It can be operated  as a joint venture of local bodies and self-help groups. By starting community kitchen,we can ensure  nutritious food to the needy. Food can be provided free to priority category (Antyodaya & PHH) and at subsidized rate to others. Frauds can be avoided using digital technology. Inspections  can also be done using food vigilance squads. With the establishment of a public canteen, housewives can engage in other occupations and increase their income. There will be fuel savings by cooking food together. Pollution will also be reduced. It would be good to make a fundamental change in the way food is distributed. Action should also be taken to bring home food for bedridden patients. A system should also be put in place for individuals to bring containers to avoid plastic and other non-degradable packing materials. This gathering can also help improve the social and mental health of individuals. I think NITI Aayog will take this proposal seriously🙏