The officials will have a huge task to ensure that the food grain is not pilfered by the middlemen operating in the mandis and villages. They are also tasked to ensure that the supplies are regular, and the project is to issue the ration during the 15th and 20th of every month A strict vigil will also have to be kept on the corrupt elements who divert supplies to the black market and deprive the poor of the much-needed food grain. The centre is believed to have provided Rs 50 crore to the state government to make it a success.

The announcement by the Ashok Gehlot government has at the same time attracted sharp criticism by political rivals as well as several NGOs. One valid objection is : why restrict it to only 25 kg per month, when the Congress Party in its election manifesto had promised a higher scale of 35 kg,. The Congress party at the centre is struggling with its UPA government in Delhi to find resources to fulfill the election pledge to the poor. The NGOs also argued that a poor family, which is traditionally large, needs at least 50 kg of food grain every month. The 25 kg supply will fall too short of the actual need of the poor family, and it would be unjust to fulfill only half of the requirement. The state must own the responsibility to remove hunger totally from the poor families. Rajasthan is among those backward states where the average rate of infant mortality is high, and the young mothers too suffer from malnutrition while feeding their new-born babies.

There is also a debate going on about the proposed food security bill to be enacted by Parliament. But the Gehlot government must be given credit to take the initiative without waiting for all these debating points to be sorted out. It is like the other scheme for the welfare of the poor, the national rural employment guarantee scheme. The state has earned the credit for having done well in that area, despite all its flaws at the ground level.

The state may well encourage the NGOs to monitor the working of this ambitious project also. It should also introduce social audit in this field to ensure that the supplies of the required quantity regularly reach the ration shops in villages in time, and that it is fairly distributed among the BPL card holders. The state government may also start a revision of BPL list, and enlarge its scope.

There are variations in the standards prepared by two expert committees of the planning commission so far as the level of poverty is concerned. The state should better take a liberal view of the situation and devise ways to expand the scope of benefit so that those who are now left out also become the beneficiary of the subsidized wheat supply. The Congress would also gain politically by winning the hearts of the poor in the state by implementing both the schemes in a flawless manner. The task is huge in view of the all-pervading corruption among both the officials and the political workers. (IPA)