People should not be made to suffer in the name of mustering

Public distribution network in India is very strong. It was the excellence of the public distribution network that prevented people from starving due to food shortages in post-independence India. Earlier only the economically disadvantaged in the society depended on ration shops. That is not the case today. Both the rich and the poor buy from ration shops now. When quality products started being distributed, everyone started buying rations. The same quality rice, pulses and other grains available in the public market are now available at very low prices through ration shops. Hence the relevance of public distribution network is increasing day by day.

By introducing modern technologies like e-PoS machines, hoarding and selling ration products outside could be prevented to a large extent. However, a recurring complaint being heard now is that ration supply is being disrupted due to malfunctioning e-PoS machines. Organizations of ration dealers alleged that the lack of capacity of the server was the reason for the stalling of the machine. As per an investigation, the government also confirmed this. NIC's server was used earlier. When the flow of complaints increased, the state public distribution department started using the IT mission's server under the state. The problem still could not be solved completely. The ration supply is frequently interrupted at the end of the month due to machine breakdown.

To resolve this, a joint meeting of top officials and ration shop association representatives was held under the chairmanship of the food minister six months ago. In that meeting, it was agreed that the e-POS machine is using BSNL's 2G SIM and changing it to 4G or using a private company's SIM can solve the problem permanently. Six months passed and nothing was done regarding this.

Food department alone cannot be blamed for this. Money is needed to implement all this. Finance department should show mercy. The government has to pay two months dues to the ration dealers. Crores are due in arrears to private contractors who provided public distribution goods. If money is available, the food department can even set up its own server. People who came for the mustering were suffering everywhere in the last few days. Mustering is required for yellow and pink cardholders. All the members of a ration card should reach and stamp their fingers. Mustering is done like pensioners to ensure that the ration card members are alive. This is necessary as well because ration distribution is free for these cardholders.

A total of 1.58 crore people are to be mustered in Kerala. So far only 20 lakh mustering has been completed. Central allocation will not be received if it is not completed by the 31st of this month. Although the Centre had suggested that the mustering should start six months earlier, it was started only this month. The authorities should be ready to make arrangements without bothering the people on account of this.