Patna,(BiharTimes): Notwithstanding the repeated criticism of the Bihar government by Union food minister Ram Vilas Paswan, famous economist Jean Dreze has all praise for the public distribution system (PDS) in Bihar.
According to a recent survey conducted by economists Jean Dreze and Reetika Khera the PDS has enormously improved in Bihar during the last five years or so. In contrast the performance of Jharkhand is bad.The “Bihar National Food Security Act (NFSA) Survey”, jointly sponsored by Allahabad University and IIT-Delhi, was conducted to know the ground realities about the PDS a year after the Bihar government implemented the NFSA on February 1, 2014.
It was conducted in rural areas of Gaya, Purnia, Banka and Sitamarhi districts and covered 1,000 households, selected randomly from the socio-economic and caste census (SECC) list of 48 randomly-selected villages.The survey said the PDS coverage is more inclusive, distribution is more regular and the quality of rice and wheat has improved to a great extent in Bihar.Before 2004-05 as high as 90 per cent of PDS rice and wheat used to be diverted to the black market.
Talking to the media on Friday, while releasing the report, at A N Sinha Institute Prof Dreze said altogether 81 per cent respondents felt the quality of rice distributed through PDS was ‘good’ or ‘average’ while 91 per cent respondents gave ‘good’ or ‘average’ remarks for wheat.
It must be mentioned that under the NFSA, a new list of PDS beneficiaries has been generated on the basis of SECC data. This list is more inclusive, logical, reliable and transparent than the earlier ‘BPL list’. Of the 1,000 sample households, 89 per cent are eligible for PDS entitlements under NFSA, based on heir SECC data. Of those who are eligible, 84 per cent have a valid ration card, either a new ‘priority card’ or an ‘Antyodaya card’. Thus, Bihar has today a more reliable list of eligible households.
Compared to Jharkhand, Bihar has made excellent improvement. As per a National Sample Survey Organisation survey in 2009-10, there were around 75% leakages in PDS in Bihar while just 40 per cent in neighbouring Jharkhand. Bihar has now reduced its leakages to around 24% to 20% whereas Jharkhand is still there at 40 per cent, said the report.Twenty-five states and Union Territories, including Gujarat and Jharkhand, have not yet implement NFSA.
