The only livelihood source of 62-year-old Nanhia Bai of village Pauri in Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh was her social security pension of Rs. 150/- per month, which too is received by her at intervals ranging from 4 to 5 months.  Nanhiya Bai is an old widow and is the lone member in her family.  As such, she is entitled to be a beneficiary under the schemes like Food Security Yojna and Antodaya Food Yojna, being run by the Government.  Panchayat also treats her under below poverty line category.  In this given situation, after a long struggle of 3 years, finally in the year 2001, Nanhiya Bai was able to receive her ration card under the Antodaya Yojna. This raised her hopes for meeting her food requirement and as such, will no longer remain hungry, because under this Ration Card, she was entitled to receive 35 Kgs. of rice and wheat at subsidized rates. However, her hopes were belied in the face of ground level reality.  Despite her visiting the ration shop every month regularly, she was able to receive ration only for five times during the entire period of 48 months.  There are 37,000 villages in Madhya Pradesh, which do not have a ration shop, and village Pauri is one of such villages. The Baiga Adivasis of this village had to travel about 10 kilometers, including a stretch of dense forest of Kanha National Park, to fetch their ration from village Titrahi, and most of the time, only to discover that ration shop is not open today. The old Nanhiya Bai is one of them.  This is not true only for one ration shop of Madhya Pradesh and/or for Nanhiya Bai alone, but as per study conducted by the Planning Commission, it has been established that as many as 26 lakh poor families of Madhya Pradesh are deprived from the benefits of Public Distribution System – suppose to be a target based public welfare measure.  Today, the biggest challenge before this world’s largest ever food scheme i.e. Public Distribution System, is to face and counter the attempts on the parts of Government itself as well as by vested market interests, who are busy in finding ways and means to weaken the scheme with ultimate objective to get it buried.

As per survey conducted by the Planning Commission, 42.43% of population of Madhya Pradesh is living below the poverty line and the numbers of poor families are 47,70,699 who are direct beneficiaries under the Public Distribution System itself.  In addition, such beneficiaries are also entitled for subsidized ration under other schemes of the Government.

In Madhya Pradesh, the total number of beneficiaries under the Antodaya Food Scheme are 15.81 lac deprived people, 55.52 hostel students and 49.64 lac poor families.  By totaling it up, 60 lakh families in Madhya Pradesh are required to be distributed ration, as per prescribed norms, under the Centrally run Public Distribution System, at the rate of 35 Kgs. of ration per card per family.  As such, a total of 25.43 lakh tons of ration is required to be distributed in Madhya Pradesh.  However, as against existing 60 lakh beneficiary families, the Government of India is providing ration to State Government sufficient for only for 27.97 lakh families. This means that no ration is being provided for about 60% of beneficiary families and even out of so available ration, about 40% of which is being sold under corrupt practices.  A very recent report of May 2006, submitted by the Planning Commission and a survey agency – ORG Marg, reveals that although there are 48.74 lakh ration shops for families below the poverty line, but ration is being issued only for 27.97 cardholders.  In fact through this study, the Planning Commission made an attempt to prove that remaining card holders are bogus and do not require subsidized ration under Public Distribution System.  It may not be out of place to mention here that earlier also, the World Bank, through its studies from time to time, attempted to prove that continuation of PDS is neither useful nor economically viable.

The various analyses, based on public rights, have conclusively established that the expenditure of 42% of State’s population is less than Rs. 11/- per day.  As such, the obvious conclusion of such analysis is that at least so much of families are just not capable of purchasing wheat at the rate of Rs. 10per Kg. and rice at the rate of Rs. 15/- per Kg., available in the open market.  In this given situation, the subsidized ration available from ration shops is the only lifeline for such families.  Although, on the one hand, it is true that more than 50% needs of people living below the poverty line in Madhya Pradesh are being met through public distribution system, but on the other hand, it is also equally true that by adopting impractical approach coupled with pressure from the vested interests of open market, efforts are being made to scuttle this public welfare measure of extreme social and human importance.
In the context of Madhya Pradesh, it has been observed that in rural areas, ration shops, on an average, open for only 3 days in a month and even those 3 days are not certain.  Therefore, the Government has to ensure that every ration shop remains open throughout the moth and instead of ration shops for poor families, there should be Consumer Stores as was the earlier practice.  Probing further, it is revealed that the main reason for not opening the ration shops on daily basis is that one group operates as many as 8 ration shops and that too only with one single handed operator/manager for such 8 shops.  The reason for this may be due to lower rate of commission for running such ration shops i.e. Rs. 11/- per quintal on rice, Rs. 8/- per quintal on wheat and 24 paise per litre on kerosene.  As such, it is not economically viable for such group to appoint separate Managers for each shop.  Therefore, to make running of ration shops economically viable and profitable, unless there is at least 4 times increase over the rates of commission, it may not be possible to run such ration shops with honesty and without indulging into any mal-practice.

Further, about 66% of villages are still out of network of ration shops and that is why people of about 37,000 villages still had to travel between 3 and 20 kilometers to fetch their ration.  Thus, there is absolute need to increase the number of ration shops.

On one hand, the decentralization is being promoted in various parts of the country as well as in States, but still, on practical platform, the respective Panchayats and Gram Sabhas have not been empowered or authorized to operate ration shops in their respective villages.  Instead of privatizing the operation of ration shops, the Women Organizations in the respective villages be allowed to operate and run the ration shops.  The scheme has to be re-dedicated to people in its real sense.  Basically, it is a public welfare measure, meant to provide much needed relief to poor people, but due to existing anomalies in the very definition of “Poverty” itself, most of its real beneficiaries are being deprived from taking its advantage.  The Government also has to ensure for making this scheme as an economically viable venture.  However, for achieving this, it is of utmost importance that instead of performing like a puppet show duly influenced and controlled by the forces of market, the Public Distribution Scheme itself be re-vitalized with firm political commitment for achieving its real objective.
Along with the Social aspects, there is a strong Political history also gets involved in to the analysis and debate of recent food insecurity. Although the country acquired political independence from the British Rule on 15th August, 1947, but the freedom from slave mentality is perhaps still needed.  At the time of independence, we inherited two big challenges – Poverty and Food insecurity.  On a cursory look, solution of these problems was the prime target of developmental process.

Historical background of the Poverty and Food Insecurity:

The process of colonialism, or we may say, that of slavery, begins on 17th May 1498, when Vasco-De-Gama of Portugal touched our harbour at Calicut.  Initially, the foreigners started in-depth study of prevailing power system of India and taking advantage of our in-fighting, started establishing their business interests.  In the year1612, the Britishers established their first Kothi (business house) in the city of Surat and this was the beginning of eclipsing the trading interests of India and this process continued till the year 1813. British used to sell the Indian spices, cotton and silk clothes, decorative material etc., in the British and other European markets, with the sole motive to earn profit.  The greed to earn was much in them that they even started resorting to loot and other criminal acts.  At initial stages, this foreign trade was to the advantage of India because at that time the exports from India were more with negligible imports – thus the balance of payments remained in favour of India.  Since to level this balance of payment, the British Government had to cough out more money and as such, to contain this, they focused their eyes on to grab the political power in India so that policies are framed in such a manner where imports to India are increased and cost of exports are reduced by withdrawing all applicable duties thereon. After winning the Palasi war in the year 1757, the British gained strength to strike and loot, at will, in different parts of India. First they used to pressurize the labour force, but subsequently they started tightening their hold on artisans and farmers.   The British traders used to obtain the signatures of weavers and artisans on a blank paper and then lifted their stocks by either paying very little rate or sometimes even without making any payment.  Earlier the weavers were working independently but slowly they started working as slaves.  During the period between 1764 and 1767, the British started levying heavy revenue duties and during this period they recovered an whopping amount of 8.17 lakh pounds as revenue from the Indian ruler of Bengal, which was increased to 34 lakh pounds in 1793.  Between the years 1764 and 1770, various parts of India suffered severe draught, including Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, killing about 10 millions of people, but even in the face of such serious natural calamity, British did not spare anybody in recovering the revenue duties.  In 1970, Rajnipam Dutta provided a concept and taking clue from that concept, one of the British Parliamentarian, William Fullerton wrote in 1987 that:

“In olden times, the villages of Bengal were like the food godowns of Nations.  This State, in the eastern part of the country, was the hub center of finished goods, trade and income.  But our rulers started exploiting it in such a haste that within a short period of 20 years, major parts of rural areas were ruined. Fields remain unsown and untilled and at many places there was growth of wild plants. Farmers are being exploited and looted and people had to face famine conditions repeatedly.  As a consequence, the population started gradually diminishing.”

The issue is that India’s affluence was being transported in British Cargo ships to their country – Britain. Thereafter the western industrialization targeted its vulture’s eye on India.  The Government, in the year 1813, abolished the prevailing lease system in India and this was the beginning of destruction of Indian industries. The British had managed to reduce the duties and other levies on imported goods in India to such an extent that imported goods were available at cheaper rates as compared to even India’s own indigenously manufactured items.   Consequently, apart from closure of industries like Cloth, Leather, Sugar etc., hundreds of thousands of people were rendered jobless.  Between the period 1814 and 1835, the consumption of imported clothes/garments in India had increased more than 50 times i.e. from 1 million yards to 51 million yards.  This in itself is a sufficient testimony of destruction of Indian industry.   In H.L. Jack’s “The Migration of British Capital”, Rajnipaam Dutt wrote that:

“Due to exploitation at the hands of British capitalists, India suffered famine conditions repeatedly – one after the other.  While during early parts of 19th Century, there were total seven famines faced by India, taking toll of 1.5 million human lives.  But in the latter part of this Century, the number of such famines rose to 24 and even as per Government’s own records, more than 20 million people suffered hunger and other related deaths.”

At the cost of India’s capital and its affluence, the British, for continuously more than 150 long years, have not only increased its empirical power, but India was also forced to bear expenses in terms of their salaries, establishment expenses and even its war expenses, without any participatory role.  As if this was not sufficient to satisfy their thrust of exploitation, and as such, in an attempt to crush India further, they made it a Debtor country – first by East India Company of Britain and subsequently by the British Government itself. While in the year 1858 India was indebted to Britain for 70 million pounds, which rose to 885 million pounds (almost Rs. 11.8 billions) by the year 1938-39. At the time of independence – 15th August 1947, both the agriculture as well as the industry were in shambles in India. Country was heavily indebted; half fed people and in nutshell India inherited an uncertain future. 

In such a pathetic scenario, the biggest challenge facing the Government of independent India was to overcome the problem of food scarcity and reduce poverty.  Obviously to tackle the problem of this magnitude, it requires a complete and committed infrastructure, which was almost non-existent in India at that time.  The process started with five-year plans of development.  In the first Five-Year-Plan, the prime emphasis was laid on agriculture and also on the development of infrastructure for industrialization.    However, the developmental process, being initiated at that time, was marred by the differences of opinion between Gandhi and Nehru on the issue. Consequently, a permanent solution to such burning issues like hunger and poverty, stand lost somewhere in between such intellectual differences. The irony is such that even after attaining independence, India could not decipher the ‘poverty’. As a result, the definition of ‘poverty’ as provided on papers, stands miles away from the reality.
The Government of independent India started leaning towards developed nations for its developmental plans and related issues. India was influenced by the opinions of western countries (America and Europe combined) to the effect that agricultural out-put in India does not commensurate with the in-put of its natural resources and manpower. The reason attributed to such anomaly was the lack of technology.  Thus, the said western countries explored possibilities for usage of their industrial technology in the agriculture sector of India.  

Naturally, there was clear realization on the part of Government of India that unless and until the agricultural production is boosted up at a phenomenal rate, the solution to hunger and poverty is not possible.  In the given circumstances, outline of Green Revolution was framed during the decade of 1960 with the sole objective to enhance the production by way of maximizing the utilization of available resources together with modern technology.  The Green Revolution had wide ranging impact in the agriculture sector in India and some States like Punjab and Haryana took full advantage of the revolution.  With the result, the food production, which was 2.3 million tons during 1955-56, had gone up to 5.1 million tons in 1965-66.  However, it was observed that with this boom in agricultural production, although the food bazaars (mandies) were full of  food grains but there was no parallel consumption thereof.  This was a contradictory situation that though the people were hungry but not purchasing the food.  Perhaps the Government has over looked the ground reality that people are not only hungry but poor also. Now the foreign (mainly American) advisors were in the doldrums, lest this poverty may not spoil the plan of Green Revolution and they started realizing that unless the farmers did not get a fair price for their produce, they may stop using the technology, which will have an adverse impact over their own technology trade.

On the other hand, there was no system or arrangement with the Government, which can control the ups and downs of market and to fulfill the needs of people during emergency situations.  To overcome this problem, the plan for establishing a Food Corporation of India was made.  However, there is a need to define the needs and necessities of this Corporation.  This is a fact that during Green Revolution, the food production had increased. But this is also a fact that such a boom was only lopsided – in so much so, on the one hand, in States like Punjab and Haryana the boom was clearly visible, but on the other, in other parts of the country – like Orissa, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, it was no so.  In other words, it was an uneven growth.   Keeping in view this factual position, Food Storage policy was framed, principally to cover and control the following issues:   

• To control the ups and downs of market rates and to ensure minimum but fair price to farmers for their produce, sufficient to meet their cost of production.
• Ensure availability of food grains in times of emergencies.
• To meet the basic minimum food requirement of all sections of society, through various public welfare schemes. (Earlier there was no discrimination between poor and rich at government level).

Thus, it is clear that by purchasing and distributing the food, the Government attempts to maintain a balance in the system to avoid any food scarcity in any part of the country.  Many difficult terrains - rather inaccessible places surround the length and width of our country, which are mostly cut off from the mainstream.  But it is the constitutional obligation of the Government to make available the required food items to the people living in such areas.   To implement this very policy of Food Storage in an effective manner, a system was introduced which is known as Public Distribution System . This was one of the solutions, to get rid of the problems created by long foreign rule.

Shape in the Initial Stages:

During the initial stages of introduction of Public Distribution System in 1964, people from every section of Society were benefited by it.  There was no such discrimination that only the poor will be served out of this system.  To distribute food and other items to the people, a network of Fair Price Shops was spread all over the country.  Through these shops items like wheat, rice, sugar, kerosene, cotton clothes, school copies, stationery items, oil, soap etc., continued to be sold for about 30 years.  The sole purpose of this system was to make available to the people items of their daily necessities at fair (subsidized) price.  To cover the difference between actual market cost and the lower price at which it is sold in the Fair Price Shops, the Government used to absorb such additional financial burden – called subsidized rate.  In addition, the Government also used to bear the expenses for running the shops, transportation of items and manning the system.  Thus, the Public Distribution System is not only a Scheme but also a constitutional obligation.  As stated by Professor Utsa Patnayak of Jawaharlal University in her widely acclaimed article “The Republic of Hunger” that equivalent of 2400 calories are the minimum basic need of a person.  Going by this assessment, 70% of India’s population is living below the poverty line, because out of the prescribed income for determining the poverty line, food items having only 1800 calories can be made available.

Attack on Public Distribution System:

When India formally adopted open and soft trade policies, during the year 1991, then the first target of open market was on the public distribution system.  As we all know that British only wanted to earn profit at any cost

this was their sole objective, which they followed religiously and even adopted inhumane in unethical behaviour to achieve this objective.  They were also pro-open market.  Here, it must be made clear that slavery always enters through the corridors of economic system.   East India Company of Britain also came to India in the name of doing business and when forced to depart in 1947, it left behind 80% poverty, availability of food grain was mere 150 Kgs. per person, there was no employment, agriculture was almost ruined and even the remains of industries were not traceable.  Thanks to Green Revolution in independent India for boosting the agricultural production, in the absence of which the country would have faced the flood of hunger deaths, because under the ruinous system that was left behind, the feeding of ever increasing population was just not possible.

Why attack on Public Distribution System? :

The vested interests were involved both in Multi National Companies as well as that of developed Nations in abolishing the Public Distribution System.  Such interests can be summarized as under:

1. In the event of abolition of public distribution system, almost 30% of India’s population will have no alternative but to approach the open market for purchasing food grains for themselves, thus the market will have new consumers in large numbers.  Such consumers may be poor, but market is inviting them so that the people controlling such market may exploit them to meet their ends.
2. The Government will stop shopping for about 14 million tons of food grains during the harvesting season, which is being done to run the public distribution system.  As such, the Multi National Companies will be able to feed their market with that quantity and sell the same at a price to be determined by them.
3. The abolition of public distribution system will have direct impact over the minimum support price system meant, initiated by the Government for protecting the interests of farmers.  As such, the farmers will be forced to sell their produce only at the prevailing market price, irrespective of the fact whether it meets their cost of production or not.
4. With the withdrawal of public distribution system, there will be no State control over the ups and downs of food market and the concerned business class may be tempted to resort to black marketing by creating artificial scarcity and as such, the society at large will have to bear this additional financial burden.    
5. In the absence of its own storage system, for meeting the emergent situations, the Government had to opt for importing food grains.  But it is a historical fact that such imports are generally loaded with heavy conditions as may be imposed by those exporting countries influencing the political power.

Strategy for attacking PDS:

The process to abolish the public distribution system started way back in 1991 by the vested interests. The system in itself had proved to be a lifeline for the poor and deprived sections of people.  Based on a study conducted in 1973-74, the Planning Commission of India, for the first time, defined ‘poverty’ in the year 1979. According to this definition, those families who spend less than Rs. 49/- per person/per month will be treated within the ambit of poverty.  The Planning Commission believed that to survive alone, it requires 2400 calories of food and which can be procured by spending a minimum amount of Rs.1.66 per day.  Thereafter this definition was never amended or updated.  However, to cover the inflationary increases, the Planning Commission enhanced the spending monetary criteria of poverty from Rs. 49/- to Rs. 327 per person/per month. In the given situation, when the web of poverty is so thinly knitted, then it is rather impossible to survive without the protection of public distribution system. 

Despite this known and obvious fact, the Government in the year 1991 started the process of abolishing the public distribution system.   In that process, between the period 1991 and 1994 the prices of rationed goods being sold through the Fair Price Shops were just doubled. Thereafter, the prices of food grains for the families living below the poverty line between the period 1980 and 2001, were increased by 66%.  Consequently, the Fair Price Shops continued distancing from the reach of the poor.  The obvious fall out of this process was that the quantum of sale of food grains through Fair Price Shops stands reduced to just half i.e. from 20 million tons in 1991 it came down to mere 10 million tons in the year 2000.

As if to sound a knell over the public distribution system, the Central Government in the year 2006, keeping aside all its pronounced sensitivity, had reduced the eligibility of food grains from 35 Kgs. to 30 Kgs. per ration card. This was followed by increase in prices of rationed goods available at Fair Price Shops (which were no more ‘Fair’). The sole objective was to reduce the subsidy of Rs. 4,524 crores. 

Apart from aforesaid measures, the Government, in the year 1997, categorized the society into rich and poor sections and decided that now onwards dual price policy will be applicable at Ration Shops, as such, everybody will not be able to get the benefit of subsidized rate of food grains.  Here onwards, the dual price system came into force i.e. subsidized rate for those living below the poverty line and non-subsidized for above that line. This was proclaimed as Targeted Public Distribution System.  
On the one hand, the Government was limiting and restricting the benefits of public distribution system, while on the other hand, the amount of subsidy continued to increase.  While in 1995-96 a subsidy of Rs. 5325.75 crores was provided to Food Corporation of India, it was increased to Rs. 23874.04 crores in the year 2003-04 (a net increase of 123%). However, the poor and needy were still not being benefited, because three States alone i.e. Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh, account for almost 80% of food purchases made by the Food Corporation of India, which were subsequently transported to other States. As such, about 60% amount of subsidy was spent on transportation of food grains to other parts of the country.   The Government also resorted to privatization of Ration shops and consequently the pilfered quantity of subsidized food grain started filtering down from ration shops to open market.  The whole sequence of events has led to a situation where almost 30% of rice and 44% of wheat, belonging to ration shops, is being black-marketed. 

Challenges before the PDS in Madhya Pradesh:

According to a very recent research, conducted by the State Planning Commission of Madhya Pradesh, 42.43% of State’s population is living below the poverty line.  As per this survey, the number of poor families in the State is 49.64, who are direct beneficiaries of public distribution system.  In addition, the subsidized ration is also being provided to beneficiaries under other public welfare schemes.  In the State there are 55,634 destitute, 92,428 students living in hostels and 10 lakh families who are beneficiaries under the Extended Antodaya Food Scheme. Thus approximately 63.79 lakh beneficiaries in the State be provided subsidized ration under the targeted public distribution system of Government of India.  Presently, 35 Kg. of ration is to be provided per card/per family totaling to 26.794 Lakh ton however, as against 63.79 lakh eligible beneficiaries, ration is being provided only for 27.97 lakh (40%) families.  This fact was also corroborated in the report released jointly by Planning Commission and ORG-MARG, a renowned survey agency, according to which although there are 48.74 lakh poverty cards, but the ration is provided, which is sufficient only for 27.97 cardholders.  Thus about 60% of eligible families remain deprived of subsidized ration.  Apart from this short supply of ration, about 40% of available food grains are being supplied under corrupt practices.  Through its report, the Planning Commission attempted to prove that remaining (20.77 lakh) cards are bogus and not entitled under the targeted public distribution system.  Here it is also worth mentioning that time and again even varios international financial institutions, through their various studies, attempted to establish that continuation of public distribution system is neither economical nor useful for the country. 
A study on ‘Right to Food’ was conducted by two voluntary organizations of Madhya Pradesh – ‘Sampark’ and ‘Sopan’ in association with Right to Food Campaign Madhya Pradesh support Group. As per this study, only 35 to 45 percent of total requirement of tribal community is being met through the public distribution system.  The study also opined that subject to proper, committed and dedicated implementation of this system, it could be made more useful to them for meeting their needs.  The most surprising fact, as reported in the study is that 91% of actual beneficiaries are not even aware of their entitlement of 35 Kg. ration through the public distribution system.  It is also not made known to them as to on which dates and time the ration shop in their village shall remain open.

Some relevant facts about the functioning of Ration shops under the public distribution system are as under:

• On an average, particularly in the rural areas of Madhya Pradesh, the ration shops open only thrice in a month.  Even the dates and days of those three days are not known to the people and are decided at the whims and fancy of the people running such shops.
• The main reason for not opening these shops on daily basis, as other markets do, is that there is a Samiti who controls about 6 to 8 ration shops and all of them are managed and operated by a single person. Since the commission being paid in Madhya Pradesh on items of such ration shops is very little, which is just not sufficient to meet the expenses.  Here the commission on various items is being paid at the following rates:     

-Rice:                                      Rs. 11.00 per quintal
-Wheat:                                  Rs. 8.00 per quintal
-Kerosene: Rs. 0.24 per litre
-Sugar:                                   Rs. 5.23 per quintal

However, looking at the expenses being incurred in running such shops, under the targeted public distribution system, unless these rates of commission are revised at least by three times, till then they can not be expected to run properly and with honesty.

• There are total of 18,688 ration shops in Madhya Pradesh as against the number of villages being 55,393, meaning thereby that people of only 34% villages are the direct beneficiaries of such shops. As such, 2/3rd majority of villages (numbering 36,705 – 66%) remain deprived of this facility in their respective villages.
• Generally it is believed and even observed that food grains being distributed through these ration shops are of inferior quality – may be because it is meant for the poor people.
• The way, in which the prices of such supposed to be ‘cheap ration’, under the targeted public distribution system, are being increased, it is obviously making it beyond the reach of its beneficiaries.
• The need of the hour is to look at and make this targeted public distribution system applicable in a wider perspective.  Because, presently its beneficiaries are only such families who are living at below the poverty line.  However, the process and identification of ‘Below Poverty Line’ level is saddled with serious anomalies and consequently, majority of population remain non-eligible and as such, are deprived of its benefits. Hence it is necessary to bring every family within the fold of public distribution system.       
• The centralized management of targeted public distribution system is mainly responsible for its negative impact.  Therefore, it needs to be de-centralized and its management and responsibility to operate be handed over to respective Gram Sabhas, Panchayats, Women Committees and Self Help Groups.
• The operators of ration shops, under the targeted public distribution system, are not being provided with any working capital by the Government, in any manner whatsoever, to run and manage such shops.

Public Distribution System in Madhya Pradesh

• Total No. of BPL Families in MP         49.64 Lac1
• Destitute                                                       36.01 Thousand
• Hostel beneficiaries                                   55.52 Thousand
• Expended AAY Scheme beneficiaries   10 Lac
 (No. of beneficiaries of AAY constantly changing)        
• Total beneficiaries of PDS                         60.5553 Lac Approx.        

Network of PDS Shops in MP

• Total Ration Shops in the state                          18688
• Ration shops in Urban area                                3317
• Ration shops in Rural area                                 15371
• Mahila Upbhokta Bhandar                                  744

Access to the Ration shops

• Within the distance of 3 KM.                               37946  (82.16 %)
• Within the distance of 3 to 5 KM                         6093  (13.19%)
• Within the distance of 5 to 10 KM                      1092  (4.10 %)
• Distance more than 10 KM                                  252 (0.05%)
                         
(Source: Affidavit submitted in the Supreme Court of India in the writ petition 196/2001 by the Dept. of Food & Civil Supplies,Govt. of Madhya Pradesh)

Access to the villages

• Total No. of Villages 52146
• No. of Villages covered under PDS 46013
• No. of Villages not covered under PDS 6043
• No. of days Ration shops open in rural areas 3 to 4 days 
(Source: Study Conducted by Right to Food Campaign Madhya Pradesh)

Requirement, Allocation and distribution of Ration

• Total requirement of Grain or Ration / Year   25.43 Lac ton (Equation: Total no. of beneficiaries X 35Kg per month X 12 months)
• Actual received quantity in the year 2004 12.48 Lac ton
• Difference in requirement and allocation 12.95  Lac ton
• Difference in percentage 51