Many States have called for caution on the Centre’s ‘game-changer’ plan for direct cash transfer of subsidies, especially food, slated to kick off in 43 districts on January 1.

Among the most vocal were the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tripura and Jharkhand, who were here for the National Development Council, meet to approve the 12{+t}{+h} Plan document.

Lashing out at the Centre’s “short-sightedness” for touting the cash transfer scheme as the panacea for all ills in implementation, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa said it would not work for food and fertiliser.

She said the even States’ attempts to transfer pensions and scholarships were facing hurdles as the banking system, under the Centre’s control, was unable to ensure last mile connectivity to the beneficiaries without imposing hardships and costs on them.

“It (cash transfer) is almost as if the Central Government is trying to abdicate its responsibility and just throwing money around…”, she added.

Citing poor connectivity, difficult access and inadequate banking facilities, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said a “one solution fits all approach” should not be attempted.

He said his Government, instead, was in favour of bringing appropriate improvements in the existing public distribution system (PDS) to address food and nutritional security effectively.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, who has beaten the Centre by being the first State to bring out a Food Security Bill to ensure entitlement of 35 kg rice a month per family, suggested that direct cash transfer should be “recommendatory rather than mandatory in nature”.

The State, whose PDS delivery system has been rated as one of the best in the country, was firmly of the view that cash transfer may not be an effective guarantee for food security for the needy.

The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister also called for need for caution while implementing the scheme in the PDS.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda said broadband connectivity was critical to cash transfers. “Until this is ensured, the cash transfer system could fail,” he added.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in his speech, also called for strengthening the existing PDS by going for end-to-end computerisation. He also suggested a ‘non-formal’ PDS, consisting of civil supplies corporations and consumer co-operatives to ensure food security.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said even though the Government had assured that cash would be indexed to prices, there would be lags in revising payments because of which the beneficiaries would end up getting lower real subsidies on average.

>aditi.n@thehindu.co.in

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