We are really waiting for the time when the people at the helm in the policy circle will publicly declare that the Pro-people policies of the Government are the things of the past and now our only duties is to think about the contracts, business, economics, and reducing fiscal deficit. The motto of the Governance has changed and we will curtail subsidy from food, farming, fuel, fertilizer and this money will be pumped in the infrastructure sector which will paves the way for big contracts and business for handful of people who have access to the inner circle of the Governance.
The cash transfer for kerosene is forced on the common people in the name of reducing the leakage, corruption and better management. The cost associated with this change and the benefit which is shown on the Government website are contradictory to each other. The saving in the kitty of the Government does not shows a greater fluctuation with the launching of the DBT in the food, kerosene, and LPG in comparison with PDS but still there is a hurry to implement the LPG model in kerosene. The direct transfer of subsidy money in the account of the beneficiaries for the kerosene was a big failure and it is well known reality among the policy maker, academician, and Government that in 2011 this model was tested in some blocks and it fails to deliver good result.
In Kotkasim block of Alwar district Rajasthan when this model was piloted in 2011 it turns up to be a disaster for the poor people. The beneficiaries stops buying kerosene from dealer as the difference in the subsidy money was very less and economically it was not feasible for them to visit bank every time for the subsidy money. As the system was made in a way in which after buying kerosene from the dealer at the market price the dealer will verify and then subsidy will come on the bank account. So buying kerosene at the market price from the dealer was not a good deal for the poor people who has to gather lots of money at a time. Thus they were forced out from the system of kerosene subsidy and in the last the BDO send a report to the food and consumer department of the Rajasthan calming about the success of the model and how it saves crores of subsidy money.
This is the recent example of the force exclusion of the poor and vulnerable section of the society from the system which directly impact their day to day work in the name of more efficient system. When we go in the inner detail of this DBT and Addhar linked subsidy transfer it just seems to be a way for finding market for the technology companies to sell their technology and expertise and get different contracts from the Government. The comparative analysis of the present PDS system with this new technology driven system shows how better and efficient is the existing in delivering services to the end user in a cheaper way, but as this lobby has business and profit in their mind so they are playing with the life of the poor people of this country.
