pds in paschim midnapore

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

Mrinalini Paul, Masters' Student, TISS

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



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the entire TPDS functioning on a whole lot of spurious and outdated information.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.



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



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 member’s 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 Court’s 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 one’s 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.



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 “off-

shop” 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 beneficiary’s 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.



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

FPS’s 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

CATEGORY TOTAL NO OF

UNITS X PER UNIT

SHARE

ALLOTTMENT GIVEN SHORTAGE

32 APL(wheat) 2150x600 gm=12.9

quintal

11.46 quintal 144 kg

38 BPL (rice) 1102x1 kg=11.02

quintal

10.90 quintal 12 kg

26 BPL (rice) 2000x1kg=20 quintal 17.75 quintal 225 kg

17 APL (wheat) 3137x600gm=18.82200

quintal

15.80 quintal 302.2 kg

24 APL ( wheat) 2712.5x600gm=16.275

quintal

15.38 quintal 89.5 kg



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



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 beneficiary’s name, as taken from the dealer’s 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.



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 week’s 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 government’s 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



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,



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 people’s 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,



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.

pds in paschim midnapore

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