Food Security - Some thoughts

Food Security – Some thoughts

One of the things that I vividly remember from the village visits that we use to have every week as District Collectors was groups of visibly poor people queuing before you and asking for Lal Cards or Old age pensions. Lal Cards was the name given for the pinkish red Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) ration cards which entitled beneficiary families to 23 kgs of wheat at Rs 2 per kg and 12 kgs of rice at Rs 3 per kg. It was issued to the poorest 25% families in a village. Those not lucky to get these cards got the Yellow Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration cards or the White colored Above Poverty Line (APL) cards. The BPL card holders got the same amount of grains at a higher cost – Rs 4.65 per kg for wheat and Rs 6.15 per kg for rice. APL families paid higher and very often chose not to get grains for the Public Distribution System. The socio economic condition of the villages were such that there was very little difference between the AAY and the BPL beneficiaries and in some cases there were clear cases of more vulnerable sections being given the BPL cards rather than AAY cards for obvious reasons. It was solely based on the field verification done by the village accountants (patwaris) or village development officers.

Faced with such poor people, we were always faced with a dilemma as there was no way we could have got them what they wanted – even if they looked deserving – as the district quota and grain allotments were fixed. All of them seemed to deserve the AAY cards, but it was not easy to knock out any existing beneficiaries. We did write to the State Governments for more AAY cards, but it didn’t happen.

To this extent, the Food Security Bill expands the basket by letting more people access food grains at Rs 2 per kg and Rs 3 per kg. Thus objective of the bill of providing food security is laudable. The simplest way to do would have been to give the red AAY cards to all BPL card holders or those who would have qualified as per a criterion. However, the bill doesn’t do this. It talks of a per person entitlement and allocation. If you read the bill - it broadly says that all people identified to be provided subsidized food grains will be given 5 kg per person of grains at Rs 2 for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for rice. It also says that the ongoing Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) will continue. Thus the AAY households will allow the poorest of the poor families to get 35 kg of food grains at Rs 2 for wheat and Rs 3 per kg for rice. Some states have further subsidized AAY to give free food grains or at Rs 1 per kg. The basic problem in this scheme has been poor identification of beneficiaries, which is done by the village accountants or patwaris who are government functionaries at the grassroots. FSB tries to circumvent the problem of poor identification by making it inclusive - by covering almost two thirds of the population which it hopes will ensure that the real poor will not be left out. However, given both AAY and FSB, it may happen that a not so poor family of 10, included under FSB will get 50 kgs of grains and a real poor family under AAY will only get 35 kgs. The issue of identification of beneficiaries under FSB or AAY will still remain with the village accountants who will only exercise their discretion on a consideration. So the core problem of governance and accountability is not being addressed. The FSB bill does talk of a grievance redressal mechanism but the sheer magnitude of the problem may result in too many grievances and may ultimately not yield the desired results. It’s not that efficient implementation of PDS cannot be done. States like Chhattisgarh have used technology for proper implementation of PDS and it does work. The per person FSB entitlements do indicate that the long term plan may be to move towards cash transfers rather than expand the business of the humongously corrupt FCI and PDS network. What the bill could have done was to lay down the roadmap of merging AAY and FSB. The two parallel schemes will be an implementation nightmare.

The other key issue is how do we expedite cash transfers. Full proof cash transfers require everyone to have the Aadhaar numbers which is going to take time. However, Aadhaar is only a half-baked tech solution if we don’t address the key governance problem of beneficiary identification upfront. Cash transfers will resolve inefficiencies and corruption in grain procurement and transportation, but the key issue of beneficiary identification - who gets how much - will remain.

As for grains under FSB, another issue that comes up is how do we ensure proper nutrition for the really poor. One person needs around 10 kgs of grains per month. With almost 67% of the population covered under, we would need to procure massive quantities of food grains to provide for people who don't really deserve. This massive off take of grains by FCI will result in shortages in the open market which will result in higher prices. Thus the real poor will have to spend more to meet their additional requirements. And if they are not able to afford that, it will defeat the objectives of food security.

How do we address these issues?

I would feel that what we need to do is to meet the objectives of FSB by expanding the scope of AAY to cover more people, say around 35-40% people who are the most deserving. We need to provide for may be 10 kgs of grains per person. AAY allocations should also be made per person if the long term goal is to move towards cash transfers – we should say upfront that as districts get 100% Aadhaar enabled, we will move to cash transfers and in 5 years, there will be only cash transfers with no food grain procurement or distribution. To make things better, we must use mobile phones, SMS, IVRS and mass media to disseminate information about grain entitlements, distribution and movement. There would need to be zero tolerance towards wrong beneficiary identification and grievances will have to be handled within 2-3 weeks. With effective governance reform and use of technology and involving citizens, we will be able to make it work.

Abhishek Singh

(Views are personal)

The Politics of Corruption

The Politics of Corruption

A lot has been said and written about Durga and how politicians have conspired to illegally suspend her and continue to make statements which not only undermines her as an officer but also the entire IAS and the bureaucracy. Why has there been such a response from our politicians? Most people say that if Durga was being a roadblock in illegal mining, why couldn’t they just transfer her? What was the need to suspend a young officer?

The answer that comes to one’s mind is that the stakes have become big. So big that the mafia can think of attacking and killing IPS and IAS officers. Only last year IPS officer Narendra Kumar was killed in Madhya Pradesh when he tried to stop illegal mining. A few days back Yunus Khan, an IAS officer and Durga’s batch mate was attacked. The clout and might of the mining mafia is no less than those indulging in organized crime. The role played by the mining mafia in states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh is well known.

Illegal mining is an easy source of funds that politicians need. There is a huge demand of sand for the booming construction sector. The laws and rules regarding auction of natural resources like sand are not very transparent. There are no correct estimates of the quantity and value of the sand available. The administration and police lack the men and equipment required to effectively control it and then there is nexus between mafia, politicians, police and administrative functionaries that allows the trade to thrive. Whenever a young officer gets to know of what’s going on, attempts are made to first buy him and then silence him normally through transfers and lately through suspensions and attacks.

So why are the politicians hand in glove with the criminals and the mafia? Obviously money plays a big role. And why do politicians need money. Greed is a major reason. But can they manage without money? From whatever I have seen and learnt about the business of being in politics, I would say it’s virtually impossible to survive with no money to splurge. A few days back a political leader in Maharashtra was quoted about the crores one needs to spend in Assembly and Parliament elections. There was a furor, but what was not said that the politician concerned was just being honest – about an open secret. Almost 80-90% constituencies in the country will have someone spending that kind of money. In many, there are 4-5 candidates who each spend almost 10 times what is allowed as per Election Commission guidelines. Even for Gram Panchayat elections, people spend a fortune.

And who are these people who spend so much. They are not in politics for the love of the country. Today, either you inherit politics and constituencies or you are there for want of any better option. Most professionals shun politics. We are not like the politicians of pre independence era – Gandhi, Nehru and Bose – who quit the best of their jobs and careers and joined politics for the love of freedom and the nation. So those who join today – join it as a vocation, as a profession, as a business. And it’s a business that requires heavy investments and time. Most politicians have 24X7 working hours. They have to be accessible and available all the time. And very often, they need to spend money for their supporters, who visit them in State and National capitals, stay with them, eat at their homes and even take money for their travel. One Minister had mentioned once that almost 50 people eat at his place regularly and his daily expenses runs into lakhs of rupees.

Then there are a lot of risks associated with the investments politicians make for elections. We don’t have primaries or real inner party democracy. So even to get tickets to contest election, one has to spend a lot of money – from lobbying for tickets to actually buying tickets by contributing to the party fund kitty. Even if one is able to get a ticket, and spend the crores required for the campaign, the chances of winning the elections is never more than 30-40% even for candidates of recognized parties. If you are lucky enough to win elections, it’s not necessary that the party you belong to forms the Government. Even if you are lucky to be a ruling party MLA or MP, the chances that you will get a berth in the Ministry are not guaranteed. If you are lucky to be a Minister, the only opportunity to recover the investments you make will be if you have a lucrative portfolio and you have a bureaucrat who is willing to play ball.

Thus the way risks are in built in a political investment, the minimum returns that one will try to seek, if given an opportunity will be around 10 times the investment to enable one to be in a position to contest next elections. Given this one is not surprised on the high rate of returns witnessed in the assets of most politicians as per the affidavits filed with Election Commission. Thus the kind of democracy we have has the element of corruption in built in it. It’s very difficult for politicians in power to avoid the temptations of making money. And to help them and guide them there are always businessmen, bureaucrats, lawyers and other middlemen readily available.

Another dimension of this which leads to favoritism and nepotism is the huge number of supporters a politician needs to manage his elections. Whether it’s for election campaigns or just being polling agents, politicians in any constituency have hundreds of supporters who have families to support and are always seeking jobs, contracts, gun licenses and favors for their friends and family. No politician worth his salt can say no to them. I remember an anecdote with a State minister who had told me that people only come to them for work that is beyond rules. And they can’t say no to them as they are seeking votes from the very same people.

Does this mean that there is no solution and we as a country are doomed forever and will continue to be plagued with corruption, nepotism and favoritism? The argument put forward by politicians as mentioned above is only partly true. Very often those in politics are happy to live with the present system as it ensures politics to be an old boys club – difficult for new entrants to break in. How then we make this happen? Most people will think of simplistic solutions like getting rid of politicians. But that is only wishful thinking. Politicians and Political parties do have a role to play in a democracy. We do need them. How do we cleanse them? How do we ensure that people with principles, ethics and morals join politics? How do we make it rewarding without having to adopt underhand techniques.

The solution for this will not come from heaven. It exists in our systems and laws. First and foremost we need to eliminate money power from elections as till the time, we spend crores for elections, it will be impossible to get out of the vicious circle of looting money and spending in elections. A lot has been done to monitor the expenses of candidates during elections by the Election Commission. However its general knowledge that most candidates violate the norms and get away with it. In order to make it effective, what can be done is to eliminate the possibilities of use of money by candidates and have state funding of elections. All candidates can be given the option of having 10 public meetings at locations of their choice. They can also deploy 10 campaign teams which will be provided with vehicles that could do a maximum of 200 kms a day. The expenses on these public meeting and campaigns will be borne by the Government and the candidates will themselves not be required to spend any amount.

In order to limit the number of candidates, each candidate can be required to have a security deposit of say Rs 10 lakhs which will be refunded if he gets 5% of the votes polled. This will discourage non serious candidates and keep the expenses in control. Also those candidates who poll less than 5% of votes polled will not be eligible to contest in the following two elections. Any candidate who incurs any expenses beyond this will be debarred from contesting in future and there could be penal provisions also. This would allow professionals and those who can be good politicians but do not have resources to join the fray. The numbers above are just indicative and once the principle is accepted, can be suitably modified depending on the size of the constituencies concerned.

Representation of People’s Act allows Political Parties to accept donations and only those donations which are more than Rs 20,000 need to be disclosed. This can be amended by requiring all parties to disclose contributions of all amounts so that every penny is accounted for, both in the books of the donors as well as the political parties. Details of assets and liabilities of all contesting candidates – both at the party level as well for the general elections needs to be made public. The expenses some of the political parties incur on their top leaders is phenomenal and there is no reason that citizens should not know of the same. The recent move to block the Chief Information Commissioner’s orders of applicability of Right to Information Act on political parties is a very regressive step.

Apart from money, the other factor that affects elections is the policy of inheriting constituencies that makes it virtually impossible for new candidates to break in. Representation of People’s Act 1951 needs to incorporate features that will make inner party democracy a must. At least two years before each general election, Election Commission needs to conduct inner party elections for political parties, like the primaries in the US that allows members of recognized parties to elect their candidates for the general elections. These should be done in the most transparent manner with limits on expenses and campaigns strictly monitored by the Commission. Thus the real elections will have serious candidates who actually represent the party rather than being imposed by one Supreme Leader or organization as is the norm in most of our political parties.

The other issue to tackle is criminals. Criminals of any kind, once convicted, should be barred from the electoral process of the parties as well as general elections. Any criminal case against elected legislators need to be finalized within a maximum period of 2 years and if the person is convicted he should lose his seat immediately. Again the move to thwart the recent Supreme Court orders on convicted politicians is evidence of the lack of political will to eliminate criminals from politics.

Another change that we need to have to encourage more people who aspire to join politics is to limit the number of terms to be a Chief Minister or Prime Minister to two. So any person can occupy these positions for a maximum of 10 years only.

The above if implemented can mean a lot for improving our electoral systems. There is a need to take these steps as that will enable us to have the best of people joining politics and will be like the Second Freedom movement that will truly help us aspire the dream enshrined in our Constitution of being a true republic.

Abhishek Singh

(Views are Personal)

Babu Bashing

Being part of the Government has its pluses and the minuses. Very often I wonder as why we in the Government are largely unable to meet the aspirations that people have from us. What I hate most about my profession is being referred to as Babus!! I remember how I used to revolt when my grandmother used to call me 'Babu' rather than my nickname 'Bobby' during my annual summer visits to my village in Azamgarh, UP. Today when the media refers to Government officers (IAS) as Babus, I feel miserable. Atleast grandma's Babu was with love and affection. Media and people by large call us Babus with contempt and ridicule. May be they are justified and rightly so. There are lots of expectations from us and do we actually do justice to what people expect or what is just and fair!!
Very often I feel, we dont and we are unable to. We do have our reasons for the same. Our favorite blame guy is who else, the politician. In 99% of the cases it is true that we do take irrational and illogical decisions on account of politicians. We do explain the wrongs to the politicians and in most cases we are over ruled. Why do the politicians over rule us. Privately most of them agree to our views but they have compulsions for what they do. What are these compulsions and why do they do all that they do.
One prime reason is money. Yes money. Unfortunately Democracy is a luxury and someone has to foot the bill for this luxury. Our democratic processes of elections are pretty expensive. It is common knowledge that anyone contesting Assembly or Parliament Elections has to spend a few crores to be anywhere near an outside chance to win elections. There might be a few exceptions but more than 95% of elections are won by people who spend crores. No one joins politics these days out of love for the nation or for a sense of service and dedication to the society. Those days ended with the end of the British rule when professionals like Gandhi, Nehru, Bose et al quit lucrative careers to join politics. Today people who dont get into Engineering, Medicine, Law, Civil Services, Teaching or any decent profession join politics. Having a criminal background can mean a fast track growth in this profession. Then they spend millions in contesting elections which are rather unpredictable. Huge investments can go awry. Even if one wins the election, one does not know if one will end up in the ruling party. Even if one is on the right side of the fence, not every one becomes a minister. If one becomes a minister, it is not sure if one will be able to get a portfolio that is regraded lucrative. Given the low probabilty of success in this field, those who get an opportunity want to make the most of it - recover their investments, make provisions for future elections and most of all find jobs or contracts for their thousand odd workers - who have families to feed and lives to live. In many ways they are forced to be corrupt and take illogical and irrational decisions. The bureacrats are supposed to check this. But for their own weaknesses and greed, they play along with the politicos and we get the government that we have. Corrupt and Non Performing!!
What then. Whats the solution. One can be State funding of elections and strict laws that check the criminal elements joining politics. This will create a situation when even professionals and well meaning people without money or muscle can think of joining the political profession. People do want clean men but we hardly give them a choice. Once such well meaning people join the Government, bureacrats will also fall in line as they will not have any excuses or alibis for their own acts of commission and omission.
We do need this. Lets think over and do this. It is definitely better than Babu Bashing!!!!