PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM-NEED FOR VIGILANCE AGAINST PILFERAGE

The present Public Distribution System (PDS) owes its existence to the erstwhile colonial power, the Britishers which began during World War II period. It was in 1942 that the Government of India (GOI) set up the first structured PDS for ensuring supply of food grains and other essential commodities with the Department of Food vested with the task of coordinating the activity. However it was abolished next year probably because of better availability of food grains as the intensity of the War eased some what. Independent India felt the need for reviving the PDS which was done in 1950 as a deliberate social policy for creating social equity. The avowed objectives were to provide food at subsidized cost to low income families, price moderation in the market and ensuring equity in distribution of essential commodities.

In order to feed the PDS, massive procurement of food grains at minimum support price was necessary for which Food Corporation (FCI) was set up in 1965. With the cooperation of State level agencies FCI has been able to mobilize food grains more than adequate to feed the PDS beneficiaries and to day it has more than 60 million tons (mt) of food grains under its custody. As per the buffer norms FCI is to hold at each quarter of the year 16.2 mt (April), 26.9 mt (July), 16.2 mt (October) and 20 mt (January). The so called ration shops (the term was inherited from Britishers) are the centers from where beneficiaries draw their entitlements and there are more than 5 lakh such shops in the country.

According to some estimates pilferage of food grains from the PDS is rampant and has assumed massive proportion. Total leakage is put at 36% as a conservative figure though there are reports that it could be as high as 50%. Almost one fifth of the ration cards are ghost cards owned by fraudsters who obtain the ration quota on fictitious beneficiaries while in collusion with the shops another 20% of the food grains is diverted to black marketeers. In states like Punjab and Bihar the diversion is reported to be more than 75% while AP, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and West Bengal have better performance record, leakage being restricted to less than 25%. It is really creditworthy for states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to have set up vehicle tracking system that can provide vital information like vehicle details, quantity carried, destination, date of delivery etc and such innovations can significantly reduce pilferage since on-line tracking facility makes the situation more transparent.

As per the Model Citizens Charter of November 1997 GOI issued guidelines regarding management of PDS under which there are supposed to be vigilance committees at various levels like panchayat, ward, taluk, district and state. When Targeted PDS was introduced the Panchayat Raj institutions were vested with responsibilities to monitor the so called Fair Price Shops(FPSs) and vigilance committees are supposed to include as members, eminent persons representing government, social organizations, local bodies, etc to periodically review the functioning of the scheme as a whole and the FPSs in particular. If in spite of all these institutional arrangements, fraudsters can corner 50% of the quantity flowing through the PDS, one can imagine the ingenuity of Indian "wheelers and dealers" involved in the scam!

In a recent report GOI has reported that vigilance committees have been set up as per guidelines, meetings are held routinely, minutes are recorded, compliance reports are prepared leading one to believe that every thing is fine with Indian PDS operations. How ever the experience of the citizens is totally different and to get even a Below Poverty Line ( BPL) ration card is beset with many insurmountable logistical problems. As per the rights, each BPL card holder is entitled to receive rice or wheat at prices varying between Rs 4.15 to 5.65 per kg with maximum entitlement being 35 kg per family per month. Besides the Above Poverty Line (APL) card holders can get the same at prices between Rs 6.10 and 7.90 per lg per family. Over 80 million families are targeted under the TPDS scheme.

Discussions within the GOI regarding universalization of PDS are still incomplete and radical suggestions like Food Stamps in place of subsidization are under consideration. No matter what GOI does, unless honesty and public probity are restored amongst public officials, no fool proof system can be evolved in spite of enormous management resources with the government.

V.H.POTTY
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WASTAGE OF FOODS IN INDIA-THE NEVER ENDING "SAGA"!

Way back in early nineteen sixties, practically every food scientists in India were chanting the now familiar "mantra" that 35% of the country's food was being wasted and urgent measures were required to stop this enormous waste which would only assure food security. After billions of rupees spent on food conservation research during the last 50 years and successfully managing the Green Revolution that ensured plentiful supplies of food grains, is it not a quirk of irony that same "waste mantra" is still repeated ad naseum to day by the Minister for Food Processing Industry at the Center, who might not have been even borne at that time? There is no dearth of conservation technology in the country to prevent the waste and scientific design of grain storage structures is within the reach of the government, if it really desires to arrest the grain wastage. Unfortunately what is lacking is the political will and dynamism on the part of the government that obstructs a long term vision.

While scientists can be excused for raising the wastage bogey to justify their research programs and funding, it is a shame on the part of the government to continue to take this stand, without even carrying out a scientific study on extent of food wastage in the country, areas where such wastage occurs and the reasons for the same. But for the occasional expose by the media now and then, especially during rainy season, no one seems to be over concerned about the waste, if it really takes place. The "Save Grain Campaign" of the Food Ministry had spent millions of rupees in making farmers aware of the simple techniques of storage and conservation, especially in rural areas and it is doubt full whether there is really any waste of grains in the country side.

Then who is wasting them? Could it be Food Corporation of India and the State Ware Housing Corporations which procure grains, store them and supply to thousands of Ration Shops across the country? According to FCI annual report filed before Lok Sabha, wastage is placed at about 1% which could work out to less than a million ton. Recent Supreme Court intervention ordering GOI to distribute food grains being held by the agencies under it free of cost to poor hungry people does not speak well for a country like India with aspirations to become a super economic power one day. While pronouncing the order probably the learned judges do not seem to have been correctly informed about the "grain dynamics" and the concept of food security through buffer stocks. Food grains are vulnerable to infestation if not properly stored and fumigated with chemicals like Phosphine or Methyl Bromide. High moisture in the grains due to improper drying after harvest can attract fungal attack but it rarely happens unless unseasonal rains are encountered

According to the Minister "the level of wastage of agricultural food items is estimated to be 30-35% valued at about Rs. 30,000/- crores in the country, occurring at various stages of handling after harvesting due to fragmented farming, lack of adequate post-harvest infrastructure such as lack of cold storages / cold chain facilities, transportation, proper storage facilities etc". The pious and vague statement that "the wastage would be reduced by promoting the development of food processing, strengthening of post harvest infrastructure and filling the gaps in the supply chain" does not mean much except that the Minister has mastered the right vocabulary to impress his audience! The citizen in the country must have been sick hearing this statement because this has been the stand of GOI for the last 5 decades!

One difference this time that may be a source of hope for the Indian citizen is the fiscal provision in this year's budget for improving the cold storage infrastructure which is more relevant to handling of horticultural produce which is vulnerable to spoilage due to their high degree of perishability. If the cold storage and frozen food distribution facilities are strengthened spoilage of fruits and vegetables can be reduced significantly and if these schemes are implemented as promised, credit must be go to the government. But there is big "if" whether these grandiose plans materialize any time in the near future.

V.H.POTTY

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FOOD GRAIN MOUNTAINS-INDIA'S WOES

India continues to be an intriguing country when it comes to food and hunger. On one hand there are millions of its population supposed to be starving because of food shortage. But if the gross production of food grains is taken into consideration, the per capita availability is more than adequate to meet the energy needs of an individual as per international health norms. Unfortunately the skewed storage and distribution realities combined with inadequate purchasing power with a substantial part of the population affects adversely regular access to the foods available in the market. Added to this the market manipulations by the traders and middlemen continuously escalate the food prices as reflected by the inflation presently experienced in the country.

Thanks to the Green Revolution India became one of the largest producers of wheat, a stark contrast to the old PL-480 days, when imported wheat made up a significant portion of wheat availability. If per capita consumption rate is taken into consideration the country produces sufficient food grains for the entire population. As the production is heavily dependent on Monsoon rains there were shortfalls in production periodically necessitating imports to some extent, at prices much higher than the local procurement price, expending precious foreign exchange. The past experience does not seem to have taught any lesson and the present production glut is again posing serious logistical problem to GOI in saving the grains from spoilage. The situation is probably desperate which seems to have provoked the Supreme Court of the country to wonder whether these surplus grains should not be distributed to the poor and hungry in the country in stead of allowing to rot in the open. Probably such an approach may help relieving the food inflation currently hovering around 16% due to insufficient quantity circulating in the market. It appears that, while the learned judges felt that wasting even a single grain is a crime, the insensitive political class probably is not that much concerned about the unfortunate situation prevailing in the country.

A critical look at the present grain scenario brings out the startling fact that the government agencies vested with the responsibility of grain procurement in the country is holding about 59 million tons (mt), mostly wheat and rice, under their custody, a quantity sufficient to meet the needs of more than 15% of the population for a period of 12 months. While the existing grain storage facilities can hardly hold about 42 mt, remaining portion is stored under temporary, improvised storage facilities, commonly known as CAP storage where tarpaulins over the grain sacks provide some protection from the elements. As per the food security norms and the buffer stock policy of the government only 20 mt of food grains are to be held perpetually for meeting unforeseen future contingencies. Ban on exports of food grains in 2007 also contributed to this food surplus situation and any revocation of this ban can have an inflationary effect on world food grain prices. If critics are to be believed about 10 mt of these grains are likely to be lost due to rotting, infestation and other vectors.

The above unenviable situation seems to have put the government in a great dilemma as to what needs to be done. It already has a scheme to distribute rice and wheat at vastly reduced prices to those families branded as Below Poverty Line (BPL) but whether all the deserving beneficiaries are receiving their share is a matter of speculation given the poor management, monitoring and accountability associated with grain distribution. Though the Cricket-obsessed Food Minister has declared his "plans" to introduce RFI tagging system to improve the distribution, when this will happen remains to be seen. Building of storage infrastructure for food grains should have been taken on a priority and present pitiable condition is the result of years of neglect of this infrastructural need. The graphic image of food grains rotting outside a warehouse in Jaipur while liquor was being stored inside is still fresh in the memory of many discerning citizens literally causing revulsion at the situation brought about by the inefficient management of grain storage and distribution in the country.

Probably government may have to go for some sort of a Private-Public Partnership in boosting the storage capacity without further loss of time. Private sector is sure to come to the help of the government provided long term commitment is made to use their storage structures guaranteeing them a minimum return on their investments. The cold storage industry in the private sector has large capacity built over the years for commodities like fresh produce, largely potato, apple, fruits and vegetables, spices and condiments and other perishable items and there does not appear to be any dearth of business for them. Resorting to CAP storage developed years ago for temporary storage of grains in places where vast areas are available with concrete flooring cannot be a long term solution because of many logistical considerations. Not only it requires frequent fumigation to keep away infestation which can destroy the quality in no time, if not properly protected, its vulnerability to pilferage can be a serious handicap.

It was not many years ago that India was in a similar situation with surplus food stocks and one of the options considered then was to use them for converting into alcohol for industrial use but this option was not exercised for some reasons. Another suggestion was to move them to cooler climates near the foot hills of Himalayas, probably an over ambitious scheme considering the lack of infrastructure for the transport and the likely cost involved. As is usual with the government, every thing is forgotten once the crisis passes till yet another arrives. Hopefully the current serious situation may yet spur the government to create additional grain storage facilities like Silos and Concrete ware houses which after all permanent assets of the country.

V.H.POTTY
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FOOD PROTECTION FROM PREDATORS-TECHNOLOGY LIMITATIONS

Perception about spoilage of food grains due to infestation differs widely amongst the scientific community and figures as high as 50% are some times quoted as the extent of loss to the predators due to inefficient management of agriculture and storage of grains. The estimates of grain production reported by various countries and compiled by FAO refer to what is harvested and it is any body's guess as to how much of this reaches the consumer's table. World food grains production was 2.136 billion tons in 2007 and only 60% was available for consumption as food while 36% was used for seed purpose and 3% for bio-fuel production. Considering that the population is growing at about 2% annually, food production will have to keep pace to avoid scarcity and famine. By using scientific technologies, wastage due to infestation has been cut down significantly but the problem of pesticide residues posing high health hazards may see progressive elimination of many of them for use in food protection systems. The most recent warnings came from a respected international group of endocrinologists that some of the pesticide residues act as endocrine disruptors which have effect on the reproduction systems of both females and males besides causing such dreaded diseases as breast cancer, prostate cancer, neuroendocrinology, thyroid metabolism and obesity.

There are systemic insecticides, contact insecticides, inorganic pesticides, natural insecticides, organic insecticides and biological pesticides, many of them permitted in many countries. Organochlorine compounds like aldrin, chlordane, endosulfan etc are highly poisonous and their continued use is increasingly being frowned upon. Organophosphates like chlorpyriform, dimethoate, malathion etc are very effective against many insects but their indiscriminate use is contaminating water sources posing potential threat to human beings. Carbamates like carbaryl, carbofuran etc are comparatively less toxic but still face opposition from environmentalists because of pollution problems when used on a large scale. Pyrethroids like cypermethrin are relatively less harmful and are commonly used in crop protection. Neonicotinoids based on nicotine, plant derived protectants like asimina from papaya seeds, azadirachdin from neem, cinnamyl acetate, pyrethrum are all available options though they are not as effective as synthetic insecticides. Biological insecticides based on the bacteria B. thuringiensis, fungi Metarhizium anisopliae, nematode Steinemema felliae, virus Cydia pomenella granulovirus are receiving attention as possible alternative protectants to chemicals.

For storage of food grains beyond 3-4 weeks, three synthetic chemicals are widely used which are Phosphine, Methyl Bromide (MB) and Sulfuryl Chloride (SC). While Phosphine may take a few days to a week to get satisfactory results, MB accomplishes satisfactory disinfestation in a day or two. Being an ozone depleting material, MB use is being discouraged in many countries and as per the Montreal Protocol it is going to be phased out. SC is the new star being promoted as a clean fumigant as its life time was thought to be just 5 years. It can also kill most of the grain infesting insects and their larvae within a day or two. But recent reassessment of its life time indicates it could be 8 times more than what was previously thought and it has 4800 times more potential as a heat trappping gas compared to CO2 casting a shadow on its wide scale use. CO2 at concentrations above 40% and Nitrogen containing less than 1% oxygen are also possible future choices provided their application logistics become practical and economical. Use of exhaust gases from internal or external combustion which contain about 12% CO2 is another option being looked into. Rice weevil, grain borers, flour beetle, grain moths, meal worms etc pose big challenges in terms of their control and elimination and if food grain stocks are to be maintained at prime condition for distribution and long term food security, use of insecticides is inevitable with their attendant consequences.

Pyrethrum from chrysanthamum flowers, Limonin from citrus peel, Spinosad, a secondary metabolite from Saccharopolyspoia spinosa, Deltamethrin, a synthetic pyrethroid and piperyl butoxide are some of the so called 'green label' pesticides, being considered especially for organic food preservation. Salt water Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is another promising natural silica based grain protectant with considerable promise. Neem oil based pesticidal preparations have become prominent now though dosage considerations are not favorable for their large scale application. Indiscriminate application of highly toxic synthetic pesticides at the farm level and fumigants at the storage level is a serious concern facing humanity and a global consensus needs to be evolved to tackle this life threatening practices without compromising on the objective of increasing food availability to the growing population.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/

FOOD SECURITY-A REGIONAL INITIATIVE OF SAARC

Food security is an integral part of modern governing as it is the responsibility of any government to insulate its citizens from food scarcity at times of stressful situations. There are international norms recommended by FAO of United Nations and many countries follow this regimen for food security. Recent initiatives by the group of countries coming under South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to set up a Regional Food Bank, if materializes will be a wonderful model worth simulation by other countries of the world. It was at the recent 15th summit meeting of SAARC at Colombo, Sri Lanka that the member countries arrived at this epoch making decision unanimously. This move will benefit 1.5 billion people in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Bank is conceived on the basis of contributions from these countries to a food pool varying in size from 180 tons to 1,53,200 tons aggregating to a total of 242560 tons. Each country will set apart its share over and above the national stocks and make it available to any country under the SAARC, at times of distress. The administrative HQ is expected to be in Dacca, Bangladesh for planning, monitoring and execution. Regional Food Bank is a part of the long term visionary program that will ensure food and nutritional security with cooperation within the region and other counties internationally. The joint projects envisage augmentation of food production, investing in agriculture and related industries, carrying out agricultural research and sharing of technologies. The Regional Food Bank will have dedicated new ware houses in member countries and programs of local procurement as well as international purchase of extra food grains if necessary.

At a macro level the program looks very attractive and timely. The political will of the nations concerned has been unequivocally established and the success of the program will depend on planning at the micro level. Though no time limit has been set up for translating the plan into concrete action at the ground level, it is expected to take considerable time to work out the logistics involved in such an inter country operation getting of the ground. It is not clear how the figure 2.43 lakh tons was arrived at for a population of 1.5 billion. Probably this quantity is hardly sufficient to meet the needs of a population of the size of 110 million for 10 days which could be adequate in times of emergency in a particular area but considering the history of this region vis-a-vis droughts, famines, floods etc a much larger target needs to be set. As a beginning this is a good effort that must be expanded further in future after gaining sufficient experience.

What is worrying is the mode of storage that is being considered for safe keeping of the grains for periods greater than one year. The bad experience of FCI in India, during eighties and nineties when infested grains were left in their god downs for public distribution must be kept in mind. Whether it is going to be bag storage or silo storage also needs in-depth consideration. From logistics view bag storage lends itself to easy handling and even small quantities can be transferred at short notice at least cost. Also important is the location of storage structures since it will have a bearing on the time taken to deliver the grains to the point of use under emergency conditions. The dynamics of management will be a great challenge as the stored grains must be rotated as frequently as possible to prevent spoilage. Cool and dry climates with minimum rains will be another added advantage for the location of the warehouses.

Since Dacca is slated to be the HQ of the proposed SAARC Regional Food Bank, there may not be any rush for bureaucrats to seek vantage positions in the organization and the fact that remunerations will not be on UN scales and Dacca is often considered a punishment posting station, providing another dampener. This leaves the field open to good technocrats, knowledgeable and experienced, to head this new venture and achieve the objectives with minimum hiccups.

V.H.POTTY
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