Maharashtra government has cleared an innovative scheme under which foodgrains distributed under the Public Distribution System would be delivered to the BPL families close to their houses.

The scheme has been initiated to prevent pilfering of grain by fair price shop owners. According to the Planning Commission statistics, about 30 to 70 per cent of the grain are regularly stolen from the PDS system and sold in the black market.

‘Public' distribution

The PDS grains would be distributed at a public place in villages and urban areas every three months. At the time of distribution, the shop owner, along with a State government official and local people's representative, will be present.

For a long time, the State government has been toying with various ideas for efficient distribution of grains to the 3.17 crore BPL population. But none of the past schemes was successful.

The present scheme is the brainchild of Mr Shekhar Gaikwad, Joint Secretary to the Chief Minister. It was devised in 2006 by Mr Gaikwad, while serving as Additional Collector of Nashik district.

Ground situation

Mr Gaikwad told Business Line that while serving in Nashik, delayed delivery of foodgrains was a constant problem. The district administration was supplying 15 lakh quintals of grains worth Rs 100 crore every year to the 15 tehsils in the district but still people were unhappy. Because the grain supply was simply not there or it was inadequate, he said.

First experiment of supplying grains every three months was started in a remote tribal village called Surgana. Administrative officials met the villagers and found out that there was erratic supply of food grains. However, they were not willing to testify against the shop owner, as he had married a girl from the village, Mr Gaikwad said.

“Close kinship between villagers and shop owners was present in other villages also, therefore I had find a win-win solution, in which the shop owner continues to get his commission on sales of grains, while the people get good quality grain and the chances of theft are minimised,” Mr Gaikwad said.

12,000 villages covered

The Maharashtra's Secretary for Food and Civil Supplies, Mr Bhagwan Sahai, said that already 12,000 villages have already been covered under this scheme and it would soon be rolled out across the State. The grains would be distributed on 7th of every month, he said.

To ensure that food grains are not adulterated, the standard 50 kg grain bag from the Food Corporation of India warehouse would not be opened at the State Government warehouse for redistribution. People, every quarter will have to buy a minimum of 50 kg grains or in the multiple of 50 kg bags, Mr Sahai said.

rahulw@thehindu.co.in

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