-The Hindu
“Surveys leading to move are misleading, towing a pre-planned agenda”
Opposing the Delhi Government’s move to extend a pilot
project in the Capital for providing cash subsidies in place of
subsidised foodgrains for the needy, a group of non-government
organisations led by social activist Arvind Kejriwal has said the
decision is “questionable” and that the surveys conducted ahead of the
project’s implementation were “misleading”.
One of
these surveys conducted by SEWA in 2009 had claimed that 60 per cent of
the 150 families surveyed said they wanted cash instead of ration.
Addressing
a press conference on Thursday, Mr. Kejriwal said: “There is no
transparency on the conduct of the SEWA survey and other such surveys
conducted by the Delhi Government and the United Nations Development
Programme which the government claims to have used as the basis for
going ahead with the decision.”
“These surveys are a
mere formality to tow the line of the Government’s pre-decided agenda.
The State Government’s justification of merely implementing a Planning
Commission project to close all PDS shops and provide cash also needs to
be looked into. Why is the Chief Minister taking so much interest in
the scheme? Is she doing it on her own or is she being forced to do
this?” he questioned.
The press conference was also
attended by Santosh Koli of NGO Parivartan who along with the activists
met the Chief Minister on Wednesday to urge her not to go ahead with the
project that was rolled out on a pilot basis in West Delhi’s Raghubir
Nagar in January.
She claimed that “Ration Vyawastha
Sudhar Abiyaan” – a group of NGOs which also has Parivartan as its
member – had surveyed 593 families and found that a majority of people
surveyed were against this scheme. “On Wednesday’s meeting we were
admonished by the Chief Minister in her private chamber and told that if
any person creates obstruction in the scheme’s implementation he or she
would have to face dire consequences including getting arrested and
being sent to jail.” Mr. Kejriwal said it was “contradictory” that while
the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council had drafted a Food
Security Act promising increased allocation of subsidised foodgrains to
the poor, the Congress Government in the State had decided to close down
PDS ration shops.
He argued that the cash system
would not work as the money given to the poor might be misused for
buying liquor by men in the family. The RTI activist further claimed
that the new scheme was “inflation insensitive” and would lead to “even
more corruption than in the PDS ”.
Mr. Kejriwal said:
“Switching to cash subsidies would spell disaster for the food economy
of the country as PDS is intrinsically linked to issues of pricing of
food crops and their procurement, inflation and minimum support prices.
Thus a a more scientific and transparent survey needs to be done before
taking the decision.”
Meanwhile,Delhi SEWA
Coordinator Dr. Sanjay Kumar said: “SEWA Delhi is implementing a pilot
study on cash transfers in the PDS at Raghubir Nagar in West Delhi. It
is a scientific comparative study with 500 sample size and is being
conducted by independent research agency IDF. Cash is being transferred
directly to the bank accounts of PDS beneficiaries who have volunteered
to be part of this study.”
“The study was started in
January and will be over in December 2011. The midline report will be
handed over to the Government in August and the endline report will be
submitted early next year. The pilot project intends to see whether
people prefer cash or ration or prefer to have a choice.” he added.