IN Puducherry union territory, public distribution system (PDS) shops have been kept closed for the past three years in all the regions, including Karaikkal, Mahe, and Yanam. As a result, people have not been receiving free rice or other subsidised food commodities. As a result, the poor and middle class people who are heavily dependent on PDS supplies, have been severely affected.

In 2015, the BJP led government was in power at the centre. The then chief minister of Puducherry, Rangasamy, introduced the scheme of direct cash distribution, in lieu of the existing distribution of free rice. CPI(M) strongly opposed this move. The scheme was immediately withdrawn. Three years ago, when the Congress government led by Narayanasamy was in office in Puducherry, the then lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi, despite resistance from the elected government, announced and implemented the direct cash distribution in lieu of the PDS. This move was strongly resisted by the people, and CPI(M) organised a series of protests and demonstrations. Despite these, the direct cash distribution scheme was forcibly implemented.

STATE-ENFORCED POVERTY AND MALNUTRITION

Post-2021 elections, the BJP-NR Congress alliance, after winning and forming the government, abolished the direct cash distribution scheme as well. As a result, for the past 15 months, Rs 600 which was being provided to the red-ration card (BPL) holders, in lieu of 20 kgs of rice, and Rs 300 which was being provided to the yellow-ration card holders (APL), in lieu of 10 kgs of rice, have not been provided. As a result, the people have not received the per card amount of Rs 9000 and Rs 4500 respectively, which they were supposed to receive over the past 15 months. Several thousand families in Puducherry have been pushed into poverty during the past 15 months. Due to the rise in prices of essential commodities, the impoverished people are unable to meet even the basic dietary needs. Their kids are suffering from malnutrition.

People involved in manual labour, without regular source of income, have been suffering in poverty. But they are not being provided the red-ration card (BPL). Recently, media reports threw light on the shocking fact that even several tribal communities have not been provided with the red-ration card. At the same time, red-ration cards have been provided to people with political influence. After the pandemic, MSMEs are in deep crisis. Poor families and families of workers in informal sector have been pushed over the edge of poverty due to loss of jobs and livelihoods. Despite such a grave situation, the chief minister of the BJP-NR Congress government, Rangasamy, has refused to re-introduce even the cash-in-lieu-of-rice scheme, in his recent meeting with the state's CPI(M) leaders.

The prime minister, in his speech on July 31, 2017, mentioned that the PDS distribution had been completely stopped in Chandigarh and Puducherry and that ration card holders have started receiving the subsidy amount directly in their bank accounts. He also remarked that such an arrangement will be introduced in all the states. It is the Modi government which also stopped providing LPG cylinders at subsidised prices, and began crediting the subsidy amount directly to the bank accounts. Now, the subsidy for LPG cylinders has been completely stopped. Following this blueprint, the Puducherry government, which started the scheme of cash-in-lieu-of-rice, has now completely stopped the cash disbursement as well.

While on the one hand BJP government stopped rice distribution in Puducherry, on the other hand the Modi led BJP government in an unprecedented manner, has decided to levy GST on essential food commodities including rice.

It is also important to note that the rice that is distributed in PDS shops are procured from the farmers at Minimum Support Price (MSP). Therefore, the shutting down of PDS shops poses the danger of scrapping of procurement from the farmers, which will severely affect their lives.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in power at the centre and in Puducherry, is offering a preview of the worse to come by turning Puducherry into a laboratory for implementing its anti-people policy of completely scrapping subsidies. The population of Puducherry is 1.5 million. A total of 3,52,382 ration cards have been issued there. Of these, 1,60,211 are red-ration cards and 1,66,142 are yellow-ration cards. There are a total of 515 ration shops in Puducherry. During the last election, Rangasamy released NR Congress' manifesto with the promise to re-open the PDS shops. Nirmala Sitharaman, union finance minister, released the manifesto of Puducherry BJP which promised opening of mobile ration shops. In betraying the people, the Puducherry NR Congress-BJP alliance has learned from the Modi government at the centre, which betrayed the people with false promises like crediting Rs15 lakhs into everyone's bank account. 

Puducherry's current lieutenant governor Tamizhisai Soundarrajan announced during this year's republic day speech that the co-operative PDS shops will be renovated and elevated to supermarkets through financial aid from the National Cooperative Development Corporation. Seven months have passed since that promise, and her promise has vanished into thin air. Kiran Bedi, who was the LG during the rule of the last Congress government, essentially ran a shadow government and served as an agent of the central government. When she forcefully introduced the cash-in-lieu-of-rice scheme, the Congress-DMK alliance government led by Narayanasamy objected to this move and filed a writ in the Madras High Court. But the BJP government at the centre forcefully issued an order and implemented the cash-in-lieu-of-rice scheme.

Under the Food Security Act, among the families below poverty line, those in extreme poverty are identified, and they are being provided additional foodgrains under the centre's Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), along with the usual food supplies received from the state governments' schemes. In Puducherry, 26,000 families were identified under the AAY scheme, and they were receiving additional foodgrains along with free rice and subsidised dal, palm oil and sugar received from the state government. Moreover, during the pandemic, CPI(M) held struggles and protests for the provision of cash support of Rs 7,500 to families not coming under the income tax limit, and for the provision of foodgrains. Internationally, the demand for provision of foodgrains and cash support during the periods of disaster got strengthened. As a result, the central government began implementing the scheme of distribution of 5kgs of rice under the Garib Kalyan Yojna (GKY). After the introduction of cash-in-lieu-of-rice scheme in Puducherry, apart from the AAY and GKY schemes, the provision of PDS commodities under state government was completely stopped. The 5kgs of rice, which the red-ration card holders have been receiving under the GKY scheme, will only last till this September.

DENYING RIGHT TO FOOD

Despite promising to provide essential commodities through PDS in the election manifesto, in reality the BJP-NR Congress is oblivious to people's sufferings, as it denies them their right to food. During the last government's rule, violating all norms, Kiran Bedi appointed three BJP members as nominated legislators, providing representation for BJP in the assembly. Together with these, and the legislators won over through horse-trading, BJP toppled the Congress government. The assembly speaker, a minister, and two other MLAs were brought into BJP through horse-trading. In the assembly election that followed, the NR Congress-BJP alliance, after gaining 16 seats, also utilised the three nominated BJP legislators by the centre to form a BJP-alliance ministry, and has made a mockery of democracy.

On the one hand, BJP has pushed people into extreme misery by keeping the ration shops closed for the past three years, and preventing the access to free rice, subsidised dal, sugar and palm oil to poor and common people. On the other hand, it is busy focusing on strengthening BJP-RSS organisations throughout Puducherry. BJP's sole focus is on strengthening its party, even while the poor are reeling under poverty and starvation.

In 2018, when the union government rolled out the scheme to provide direct cash transfer in lieu of rice on experimental basis, it was withdrawn in certain states due to stiff resistance from CPI(M) and other democratic movements. Yet, the scheme is still in place in Chandigarh, Puducherry and Dadra & Nagar Haveli. We can clearly understand from the experiences of stoppage of LPG subsidies and the stopping of Puducherry's cash-in-lieu-of-rice schemes that the facade of "direct transfer of subsidies" is only to gradually abolish subsidies altogether.

Reports show that in the global billionaires' ranking, Adani had climbed from the sixth to fifth position, and now to the fourth position. The BJP government, which doesn't hesitate to provide huge concessions to Adani and other corporate companies, refuses to strengthen the welfare schemes for the poor. 

RE-OPEN THE RATION SHOPS 

The CPI(M) conducted a sit-in protest on August 2, in front of the UT secretariat complex, and in Mahe and Yanam, urging the NR Congress-BJP alliance government to accept these three demands: 

1. The closed PDS shops in Puducherry must be re-opened, providing free quality rice, and dal and other essential commodities at subsidised prices.

2. All eligible people, including informal sector workers and people without stable income must be given the red-ration cards. The previous scheme of provision of monthly 20kgs rice to red-ration card and 10kgs rice to yellow-ration card must be re-introduced.

 3. Due to the stoppage of cash-in-lieu-of-rice scheme in Puducherry for the past 15 months, the red-ration card holders have not received their support of Rs 9000, while the yellow-ration card holders have not received their support of Rs 4500. The affected families must be compensated either by providing this amount, or by providing quality foodgrains in its place.