State starts weeding out 2.5 mn ineligible beneficiaries of ration
Extract
from the article:
Maharashtra, a state grappling with significant poverty, has roughly 18.4
million families living below the poverty line. Of these, 16.58 million
families are currently covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
However, the government has encountered an administrative impasse: the
beneficiary list has remained static for some time, unable to assimilate new
families needing essential food security benefits. To address this bottleneck,
the state government is initiating a purge — aiming to weed out existing but
ineligible beneficiaries from the NFSA list. This strategic cleansing is
intended to free up resources and enable the inclusion of approximately 2.5
million new families who are genuinely in need. The move underscores the
challenges inherent in balancing accurate data management with the imperative
of social justice in large-scale public welfare programs.
This attempt at recalibrating beneficiary rolls does not
merely address resource allocation; it touches on the deeper issue of
inclusivity versus exclusion in welfare governance. Maharashtra’s situation
echoes a broader dilemma faced nationwide: how to effectively update welfare
beneficiary databases amid demographic changes and economic shifts, while
ensuring that the most vulnerable are not sidelined. The government’s strategy
reflects the tension between administrative efficiency and compassionate outreach,
emphasizing the paramountcy of data integrity and dynamic policy recalibrations
to align with ground realities. This initiative also signals an acknowledgment
that without periodic auditing and verification, welfare programs risk becoming
stagnant and less impactful.
My
Take:
A. Going
to bed hungry: shame for India
"India has slipped rapidly in the global hunger index. Additional
Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, submitted there
are 81.35 crore beneficiaries under NFSA, a very large number even in the
Indian context. The ASG said the 2011 census has not stopped the government
from adding more people to the list of beneficiaries which is growing. Bhushan
interjected to say 14 states have filed affidavit stating their quota of
foodgrains has been exhausted. The matter is posted for resumed hearing on
December 8. The top court had earlier asked the Centre to ensure the benefits
of the NFSA are not limited by the 2011 census figures and more needy people
should be covered under the Act, terming the Right to Food a fundamental right
under Article 21 of the Constitution."
Reflecting on this excerpt in light of Maharashtra's current
initiative, it becomes evident that the struggle to equitably expand food
security coverage is a longstanding and systemic challenge. Years ago, I
pondered how outdated data and bureaucratic rigidity often hamstrung the noble
objective of the NFSA — the promise of food as a fundamental right for every
needy citizen. The assertion that 14 states have exhausted their quotas
resonates deeply with Maharashtra's current predicament. The state's move to
exclude ineligible beneficiaries feels like an inevitable and necessary
adaptation to an inflexible framework predicated on archaic census data. This
underscores the necessity not only for constant data renewal but also for
expanding resource pools in tandem with demographic growth and economic
realities. Policy dynamism, combined with judicial activism, shapes the
evolving contours of food security in India — a journey I have chronicled with
concern and hope over the years.
B. Going
to bed hungry: shame for India
"The per capita income in India has increased in real terms by 33.4 per
cent since the enactment of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in 2013, the
Centre had earlier told the apex court, insisting a large number of households
have transitioned to the higher income group. During the last eight years,
since the enactment of NFSA, per capita income of the population in India has
increased in real terms by 33.4 per cent. The rise in per capita income of
people is bound to have taken a large number of households to higher income
class and they may not be as vulnerable as they were in 2013-14, the Centre had
said in an affidavit."
This data point about rising per capita income ties
intriguingly to Maharashtra’s current drive to trim ineligible beneficiaries. I
had predicted this nuance — improved economic status does not instantly
translate into better access or automatic exclusion from welfare rolls. The
real-world lag in removing no-longer-eligible households hampers the inclusion
of genuinely needy ones. Maharashtra’s strategy embodies this dynamic: economic
ascendance requires welfare recalibrations, lest schemes become clogged with
beneficiaries who have ‘graduated’ socioeconomically but remain on official
lists due to administrative inertia. It’s a reminder that welfare should be
fluid, not static — responsive to shifts in the socioeconomic spectrum. This
fluidity safeguards both fiscal responsibility and the ethical imperative of
inclusiveness, themes integral to my reflections in earlier blogs. The
challenge lies in balancing dignity with diligence, ensuring the deserving are
neither excluded nor the system abused.
Call to
Action:
To the Maharashtra State Food and Civil Supplies Department, along with
policymakers overseeing NFSA implementation: this initiative to audit and
refresh the beneficiary rolls should be pursued with utmost transparency,
sensitivity, and engagement with civil society. Instituting periodic
third-party verifications and deploying technology-driven data analytics could
enhance accuracy and foster trust among stakeholders. It is imperative to
create grievance redressal mechanisms that allow those mistakenly removed to
appeal swiftly and fairly. Additionally, the central government must supplement
state efforts by augmenting grain allocations and funding to ensure that
expanding beneficiary lists do not inadvertently dilute the quality and quantity
of assistance. Together, let us champion a food security ecosystem that is both
just and nimble, reflective of India’s evolving demographic and economic
realities.
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
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