The Chandrababu Naidu Government had stopped the Door Delivery of Ration.
The previous Jagan Government procured vans spending 1600 Crore and used to pay the drivers 21,000 Rupees Per Month. It was a good system if the Door Delivery really happened.
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But then, the Vans would stop at every junction for a couple of hours, and people had to go there and collect their Ration.
It is not clear when the Vans will come. People who go to work and earn their daily meal usually forgo their wages for a full day and wait for the Van to arrive.
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The Van Drivers would arrive at odd hours, distribute the Ration to the available people, and use to divert the remaining items to the Black market.
After taking the feedback from the beneficiaries for eleven months, the system is now scrapped.
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The Ration will now be available at Fair Price Shops as it was previously.
Earlier, the Ration Dealers would distribute the Ration for a couple of days and tell be beneficiaries that it is over.
The Government had taken steps to curb that menace as well.
The ration shops will be open for the first 15 days of every month from 8 a.m. to 12 noon and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Shops will remain open on Sundays during the distribution period.
The Beneficiaries can get the Ration whenever they are free.
CCTV cameras will be installed at ration shops to avoid Black Marketing.
The Door Delivery will continue for the Senior Citizens and the Specially-abled.
The department has created a separate WhatsApp group for the differently abled and the elderly, and the dealers have to post a photo of themselves going to their homes and giving them rations.
Also, the Government is mulling the option of paying money if anyone wishes not to take the Ration.
The Opposition is trying to shed Crocodile Tears, saying that it is a big danger to Food Security.
The Government supplies Rice to the poor at 1-2 Rupees Per KG. These people buy the rice from the Poor at 6-7 Rupees Per KG and recycle it and export it to African and other countries for Higher Prices.
For instance, Ration rice in Malaysia is sold at 7 ringgits (Rs 123) per kg.
Purchasing Ration Rice is illegal, but the business goes unabated due to people like Dwarampudi.
While how the Government will arrest this Smuggling is a different topic but the root cause of this problem lies with the Rice itself.
As per the Government Scheme, 5 kg of rice at the rate of Rs 1 a KG is given to each person of a BPL family, which is considered as living under the poverty line.
The Central Government has doubled the rice entitlement as a COVID-19 assistance. So, each person would receive 10 kg.
In FY23, the center’s food subsidy expenses were Rs 2.72 lakh crore.
Even though such a huge bill, the rice is not consumable for the Poor, and so, they sell it off. Each KG of this rice costs around 14 Rupees to the Governments.
The Rice is procured from the farmers and is stored in FCI Godowns. There is a wastage as well in these Godowns.
The Government transferring an equivalent amount to the beneficiaries is a progressive move so that they can purchase the Rice of their choice.
There are legal issues for the money transfer, too.
The problem is the National Food Security Act (NFSA). This Act, brought in 2013, legally entitles up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution.
There is no provision to give the money. So the Act has to be amended to give money for those not taking the Ration Rice.
