While the Delhi government’s scheme for doorstep delivery of ration has in its notification spelt out that it would be optional and include a grievance redressal mechanism, some of its aspects – particularly relating to lack of information and sharing of details with the stakeholders – continue to concern food rights campaigners.
The details around the scheme – a major poll promise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – were not shared with the people and this has led to increased concerns about the kind of problems it might result in.
The Delhi government’s scheme for doorstep delivery of ration, scheduled to be launched in March, will include a grievance redressal system, under which a call centre will be set up to register complaints from ration card holders.
What all the scheme offers
According to the notification issued by Delhi government on February 20, “There will be provision of a grievance management system to enable the beneficiaries of Mukhya Mantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojana (MMGGRY) to raise their grievances related to the scheme. A call centre for beneficiaries is also envisaged under the scheme. The direct-to-home delivery (DHD) agency shall also carry out beneficiary reach out programmes from time to time and provide various scheme-related information to the beneficiaries.”
Delhi chief minister and AAP Convener Arvind Kejriwal. Photo: PTI
The notification also stated that “the scheme will be optional, and an option shall be taken from the beneficiaries of existing PDS scheme in Delhi, as to whether they want to enrol under MMGGRY or continue under existing PDS. Those who are not opting for MMGGRY shall continue to get their ration as per existing mechanism and price.”
It also pointed out that the Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd (DSCSC) and the Delhi Consumer’s Co-operative Wholesale Store Ltd (DCCWS) will be responsible for the implementation of the scheme with the latter engaging agencies for the delivery of ration. “The DHD agency shall notify the beneficiary in advance through SMS. The packed ration shall be handed over to the beneficiary only after his/her successful biometric authentication using the e-POS device,” it said.
As of now there are around 17.54 lakh ration card holders in Delhi who are covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013. Of them 15.12 lakh are priority households (PR), 1.73 lakh priority state households (PRS), and 68,468 are Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families. The PR and PRS category card holders are entitled to 5 kg foodgrain per month while AAY families get 25 kg wheat, 10 kg rice and 1 kg sugar.
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Issues with the scheme
Lauding the fact that the scheme has been made optional and a grievance redressal mechanism has been created under it, food rights campaigner Anjali Bhardwaj of Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan (DRRAA) questioned the secrecy and opaqueness around its roll-out.
She asked why were the details of the scheme not discussed with the stakeholders, especially the people it aimed to serve. “People should at least know basic things – like what are going to be the charges for delivery of certain quantities of rations and what would happen if their house is locked at the time of delivery – before they are asked to opt for the scheme,” she said.
Also, she said, there was no information at present among people about how much wheat flour they would get in place of wheat. “There has to be some information with the people before you ask them to opt for a scheme. It has to be an informed decision that people are expected to take,” she said.
Stating that “for most, PDS or ration system is not a luxury, it is a basic necessity. For many if the ration does not come in, they don’t have food to put on their children’s plate. So you can’t treat people like guinea pigs and say ‘we will see if there is a problem, you can always opt out’.”
Bhardwaj said ideally the Delhi government should have done some serious pilot projects in some districts and then fine-tuned the scheme. “Then they should have told people that this is what would happen and then asked them if they would like to opt or not.”
“On the face of it,” she said, “the delivery of rations to your doorstep is great, but what happens to the nuts and bolts – because that is where the problems are. What happens if I get poor quality ration at home? Right now people sometimes refuse to take rations if they find the quality not up to the mark.”
At the PDS shops, she said, the consumers sometimes also make the shopkeeper open up the sacks and show the quality of the grains. “So practical details also need to be looked into.”
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‘Government ignored demands of food rights campaigners’
Bhardwaj also accused the Delhi government of ignoring the demands of food rights campaigners around the scheme. She said a letter was written last month to which there has been no response yet.
She said on January 20, the DRRAA had in a letter to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed concern about some points related to the scheme.
They had stated that in these times of “unprecedented economic distress and unemployment”, the foodgrains provided under National Food Security Act (NFSA) were a lifeline for the poor and marginalised and cautioned that the doorstep delivery scheme was being “pushed through without any public consultation, disclosure of relevant information, awareness creation and without any piloting of the delivery mechanism.”
The letter – signed by Bhardwaj, Annie Raja, Dipa Sinha, Amrita Johri, Aysha, Rajender Kumar, Shakeel, Deepti Bharti, Shreya Sen, Rushda, Ashok Kumar, Aditi Diwedi, Snehlata, Neelesh, Anita, Sagarika Ghatak, Indranil and Richa – had highlighted how there was lack of transparency regarding the proposed policy and people only came to know about the proposal through SMSes sent on January 2, 2021 which stated that the government will soon launch CM Ghar-Ghar Ration Scheme under which atta (wheat flour) and rice will be home delivered in packets. A subsequent message had directed people to share their response by 6 pm on January 11 without providing any details of the policy.
The letter had also pointed out that when DRRAA activists spoke to the food department officials they too were in the dark about the modalities of the policy. Also, it said, no details of the proposed policy could be located on the website of the food department of Delhi or the Delhi government’s food security portal.
The DRRAA had also charged that the opacity in policy formulation was a violation of the order of the pre-legislative consultation policy of the government and of the Right to Information Act. It recalled that in its decision in July 2010, the Central Information Commission had directed the chief secretary of Delhi “to develop a credible mechanism in all departments for proactive and timely disclosure of draft legislations/policies and amendments thereto or to existing laws/policies in the public domain, as required under Section 4(1)(c) of the RTI Act, during the process of their formulation and before finalization”.
The food rights activists had also cautioned that in the absence of a monitoring mechanism, the delivery of foodgrains at individual homes, away from the public eye, was likely to increase the chances and scope for corruption, siphoning of grains and extortion. They had also asked why after seven year of implementation of the NFSA in Delhi, the state government had not put in place rules to operationalise the statutory provisions related to transparency and accountability.
Also, they said, despite Delhi high court’s orders, the Delhi government has not promulgated rules for grievance redress under the NFSA; not set up an independent State Food Commission and neither carried out any social audits.