Ration shops lose their charm

The public distribution system (PDS) focused on below poverty line (BPL) families is gradually losing its importance in West Bengal (WB) more than any other major Indian states.

According to data published by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), rice and wheat distributed to BPL families in West Bengal under PDS was only 61 per cent of total allocation.

Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Karnataka distributed 96.4 per cent and 95.6 per cent respectively of their allocation, but wheat off-take in AP was nearly nil. WB still accounted for 7 per cent of the national supply to BPL families in 2003-04.

The picture was different for above poverty line (APL) families.

Food grain off-take by APL families in WB was around 11.7 per cent of the total allocated amount. In contrast, states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab reported around 0.1 per cent and 1.1 per cent off-take respectively.

AP, Assam and Karnataka topped the list of states as far as off-take was concerned.

Food grain off-take by BPL families in Bihar was only 28.3 per cent of total allocation while APL family off-take was just 0. 3 per cent of allocation.

A report released by the World Bank said Bihar was among the poorer states in the country with per capita income considerably lower than medium and high income states that included West Bengal, AP, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

According to CMIE, food grain production in WB, primarily rice, fell 10 per cent in 2002-03 to 1741.9 lakh tonne from the previous year's 2120.3 lakh tonne.