‘We Eat Roti and Salt’: Delhi’s Most Vulnerable Still Wait for Food | Hacker News Reader

‘We Eat Roti and Salt’: Delhi’s Most Vulnerable Still Wait for Food

thequint.com

70 pointsakbarnama17 comments

I’m a bit surprised to see this article flagged so heavily that it disappeared from the HN front page entirely.

Poor people starving even more due to Covid related lockdowns is a reality. Families begging MLAs for hospital beds and oxygen is a reality. People with appointments for vaccination being turned away and then the vaccines being sold to paying recipients and families and friends is a reality. These are things that have happened to family and friends in my case.

To those flagging the article- please let us think about the long term. Only when we are all aware of what is going on can we ask for action backed by evidence. Otherwise, we’ll continue with the current situation of no news reporting.

There is a large contingent of people who support the ruling party (BJP) who vote down any article which doesn't give a flattering opinion of BJP and its handling of the situation in India.

Can someone explain how food ration cards work in India?

The government supports what is known as a Publc Distribution System (PDS) for low cost food grains etc. These are available to people who can show that they have a "ration card" which is given to low income families.

The problem is that the PDS system is quite dysfunctional and so the rations available is quite low even as food grains rot in the warehouses.

This is largely true today but the PDS was very effective and reliable in the past. My family and a neighbor bought sugar and sometimes grains from our neighborhood ration store and I never heard any complains.

My experience is between 1994-1998 in various suburbs of Mumbai.

I think the sugar was always of decent quality, but the rice, the pulses and the wheat would be of varying qualities. I hadn’t ever experienced any dilution issues with kerosene, though the “blue” shade ( colouring added to mark PDS kerosene) sometimes varied.

In certain localities, if you took care of the staff at the distribution centres during Diwali, then they took care of you throughout the year.

> The problem is that the PDS system is quite dysfunctional and so the rations available is quite low even as food grains rot in the warehouses.

Does that remind only me of Mao's Great Chinese Famine?!

No, it’s not the same.

Grains often languish in warehouses due to inefficient or staff/vehicle shortages or simply due to delays in the paperwork for replenishments.

Grains have a lifetime. If they aren’t consumed within a particular time, then they rot due to exposure to humidity or just natural degradation.

When one gives the grains for grinding into flour at the local flour mill, one needs to sometimes tell the flour mill attendant to please add one’s grain for grinding only after other good quality grains. Otherwise Good and bad flour gets mixed up.

How active is the Indian diaspora in philanthropy back in India?

The link to this HN thread must already be circulating in those RW Indian whatsapp groups by now.

Prepare for a barrage of new accounts flagging, downvoting and claiming this is inaccurate news.

Edit: Also notice, how said accounts will only blame the state government.

RW?

Right Wing

Wow, you weren’t lying.

While there is a lot wrong with the central government, not everything is center's responsibility. Unless you accurately understand how the governments operate, you can't bring in any improvements.

The article linked itself mainly places the blame at the state government. Also, the way public distribution system operates is follows - "The central and state governments share the responsibility of regulating the PDS. While the central government is responsible for procurement, storage, transportation, and bulk allocation of food grains, state governments hold the responsibility for distributing the same to the consumers through the established network of fair price shops (FPSs). State governments are also responsible for operational responsibilities including allocation and identification of families below the poverty line, issue of ration cards, and supervision and monitoring the functioning of FPSs."[1] Based on these, the following are clearly shortcomings of the state government -

> In the press conference on 18 May, the CM had announced that the scheme for people without ration cards would be along the same lines as last year. However, last year in addition to rice and wheat, an essential kit consisting of cooking oil, pulses, sugar, salt and masalas was also provided. The guidelines make no mention of these additional essential items.

> The guidelines do not state when the distribution of grains will start. There has already been an inordinate delay in the announcement of the scheme. Note: This date was finally clarified only on 2 June.

> The guidelines state that in the initial phase of distribution, grains will be provided to two lakh beneficiaries and later as per demand and need assessment from the field, up to the maximum of twenty lakh beneficiaries. This is grossly inadequate. Ration to be distributed under this relief initiative is only a one-time relief measure. Economic distress is long term and does not go away immediately with the lifting of the lockdowns.

> Finally, we are concerned to note that the guidelines do not have provisions for transparency and grievance redress which are crucial to ensure that grains reach people in need

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_distribution_system#Cen...

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