The survey conducted across a sample of 593 ration card holders in 14 slum areas shows that 99% of the people living in these clusters want an improvement in the PDS system and not cash transfers. The survey was carried out by Ration Vyavastha Sudhar Abhiyan along with NGOs Parivartan, Bhalswa Lok Shakti Manch, Jagori, Chintan, Association for Social Justice & Research and Centre For Advocacy & Research.
A member of the Right to Food Campaign, Deepa Sinha, said in the current context of high poverty and malnutrition in our country, a strengthened PDS can play an important role in providing food security, ensuring price stabilization and contributing to revitalization of agriculture.
The network of NGOs demanded PDS be improved by removing the APL-BPL distinction and introducing a wide range of reforms such as decentralization of procurement, privatization of ration shops, end-to-end computerization among other things. Pushpa from the Bhalswa Lok Shakti Manch said, “It was a good PDS system that has been corrupted and now corrupt people are themselves accepting that there is corruption in the system. The idea of replacing ration with cash was mooted to weed out corruption but that is certainly not the solution. When we went out into the community they said they were fed up of the system and wanted improvement in PDS. The survey was carried out to ascertain public opinion and the results show that 99% people don’t want cash. They all want an improved PDS system.”