Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CHAPTER-II
2.1 Introduction
The PDS in Kerala operates through a wide network of 14,195 authorized retail
outlets for the distribution of ration commodities. Out of the total retail outlets in
the State, 13600 are owned by licensed private agencies and 595 by
cooperatives.
The retail shops are served by 333 wholesale shops, of which 298 are owned
by licensed private agencies and 35 by co-operatives. These wholesale shops,
in turn receive the ration supplies from 22 sub depots of the Fel located across
the State. On an average, one retail outlet caters to the needs of the 500
cardholders. A macro profile of the PDS in Kerala from the early 1990s is given
in Table 2.1.
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
Statutory rationing was brought into force in the whole of Kerala State in the
year 1965. The operation of the Rationing System in the State was then
brought under the Statutory Order called "Kerala Rationing Order (KRO),
1966" promulgated by the State Government under the provisions of the
Essential Commodities Act (ECA), read with the order of the GOI, contained in
th
GSR, 906 dated 9 June, 1966, of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture,
Community Development & Co-operation (Department of Food).
The procedural aspects of the working of the PDS in Kerala has been dealt
with in the KRO, 1966 and the subsequent amendments made in the same
from time to time. The important provisions of the Order dealing with issue
of Ration Cards to families, appointment of Authorized Wholesale Dealers
(AWDs) & Authorized Retail Dealers (ARDs), imposing of punishment for
irregularities committed by the dealers, etc streamlined in the KRO, 196.6
are given in Appendix 2.1 .
GOI notified the new Public Distribution (Control) Order-2001 (Order No.GSR
630 dated 31.08.2001) which is applicable to all States and union territories
w.e.f. 1st September 2001. The PDS Control Order has been issued by using
the powers conferred by Section 3 of the ECA *. The PDS contains provisions
for identification of families BPL; issue of ration cards; making it binding on the
Central Government to make available foodgrains to State governments for
distribution under PDS at specified scales and prices; ensuring proper
distribution of foodgrains through FPS; regulating the sale and distribution of
essential commodities and strict monitoring by State governments of the
distribution process and furnishing of the utilisation certificate within a period
of two months. The Order also provides for
1The Essential Commodities Act was passed in 1955 with a view to give power to the Central
Government to ensure the supply of essential commodities in fair prices. Thp.-Order allows the
government to intervene in the field of production, supply and distribution of essential commodities
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kera/a- Structure & Policies
Identification of BPL & Antyodaya families: The task of identifying the BPL and
Antyodaya families rests with the respective State Governments with the
further responsibility to review the list of these families. The Gram Sabha has
the power to finalize the list of beneficiaries belonging to BPL and Antyodaya
categories. Where there are no Gram Sabhas, the local representative bodies
are to finalize the list of beneficiaries belonging to BPL and Antyodaya
categories within their respective jurisdiction.
Scale of Issue and Issue Price: The Central Government has to make
available to the State Governments, foodgrains for distribution under the PDS
to various categories of beneficiaries at such scales and prices, as may be
specified from time to time. The State Governments are required to ensure
that the allocations made by the Central Government for distribution under the
Public Distribution System are not diverted.
~ Substituted for" a specific period" by GSA 392 (E), dated 29.06.2004
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kera/a- Structure & Policies
Distribution of foodgrains: The FCI or any other agency designated for the
purpose by the Central Government has to ensure physical delivery of
foodgrains of fair average quality to State Governments for distribution under
the PDS, as per the allocations made by the Central Government. State
Governments are to make arrangements for taking delivery of essential
commodities issued by the Central Government by their deSignated agencies
or nominees from the FCI depots/ godowns and ensure further delivery to the
fair price shop within the first week of the month for which allocation is made.
The State Governments should also ensure that stocks of essential
commodities under the PDS, as issued from the FCI godowns, are not
replaced by stocks of inferior quality during storage, transit or any other stage
till delivery to the ration card holder. On getting allocation of foodgrains from
the Central Government, the State Government are required to issue district-
wise allocation orders authorizing their agencies to draw foodgrains from the
FCI within 10 days or any other body nominated for monitoring the functioning
3
of the FPSs.
Licensing: The licenses to the fair price shop owners are to be issued under
the said order by the ' deSignated authority' appointed by the State
Government and the authority should lay down the duties and responsibilities
of the fair price shop owner. The responsibilities and duties of fair price shop
owners include, sale of essential commodities as per the entitlement of ration
card holders at the retail issiJe prices fixed by the concerned State
Government under the PDS; display of information on a notice at a prominent
place in the shop on daily basis regarding (a) list of BPL and Antodaya
benefiCiaries, (b) entitlement of essential commodities, (c) scale of issue, (d)
retail issue prices, (e) timings of opening and closing of the fair price shop, (f)
stock of essential commodities received during the month, (g) opening and
closing stock of essential commodities and (h) the authority for redressal of
grievances/ lodging complaints with respect to quality and quantity of essential
commodities under the PDS;
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
The ration shops are to maintain the records of ration card holders (APL, BPL and
Antyodaya), stock register, issue or sale register; furnish copies of specified
documents, namely, ration card register, stock register, sale register to the office
of the Gram Panchayat or Nagar Palika or Vigilance Committee or any other body
authorized by State Governments for the purpose, display samples of foodgrains
being supplied through the fair price shop; accounts of the actual distribution of
essential commodities and the balance stock at the end of the month to the
designated authority of the concerned State Government with a copy to the Gram
Panchayat; opening and closing of the fair price shop as per the prescribed
timings displayed on the notice board.
Appellate Authority: The State Governments have to appoint an officer not below
the rank of Additional District Magistrate of a District as "Appellate Authority,,4 for
exercising the powers conferred upon and discharging the functions aSSigned to
him under this Order.
The Organizational set-up of the PDS is a mixture of Union and State tasks and
responsibilities. The GOI through FCI ensures the physical delivery of the
foodgrains to the State Governments as per the allocations made by the Central
Government. State Governments in turn has to make arrangements
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
their designated agencies or nominees from the FCI depots/ godowns and ensure
The procurement of the foodgrains is decided by the GOI in consultation with the
States as to how much foodgrains should be procured in each State. It also
decides on the procurement prices, based on the advice from the Commission for
Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), which calculates the cost of production and
estimates a reasonable, remunerative price for the farmers. While in principle,
these prices are the same for each State, there are different prices for different
qualities. In contrast to the Centrally administered prices, the mode of
procurement is decided by the State Governments. Procurement may take place
through the open market purchases, by market purchases in which the
government exercises the right of preemption, by a levy on producers, traders or
millers, by agents under a system of monopoly procurement etc.
The FCI has many large warehouses in different parts of the country where
foodgrains are stored after procurement. The food is transported from one FCI
ware house to another on the basis of the distribution decisions made by the GOI
as per the allocation decisions based on the number of households along with the
total number of households. Apart from allocation to the States, the GOI also fixes
the issue price. As far as the distribution within the State is concerned, the State
Government decides how the allocated food is to be distributed to the States. Not
all foodgrains procured is made available for distribution as the government also
maintains a buffer stock of foodgrains that is drawn upon only in times of severe
scarcity. Apart from the TPDS, there are also several other distribution
programmes like "Food for Work" Programme, Rural Employment Programmes
etc.
The diagram indicating the actual allocation and lifting of foodgrains in Kerala
under the TPDS is also shown in Figure 2.1. Under the rationing system, the GOI
allocates rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene to the State Government every
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Chapter II TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
FCIDEPOTS
ARD
LIFTING
PROCESSS
AWD
AWD LIFTING
ALLOC- PROCESS
ATION
PROCESS
AUTHORISED
WHOLESALE DEALER AUTHORISED
RETAIL DEALER
ARD
ALLOC-
ATION
PROCESS
DISTRICT SUPPLY
OFFICE RATION CARD
HOLDERS - APL,
BPL,AAY &
DIRECTORATE OF CIVIL ANNAPURNA
SUPPLIES
GOVT. OF INDIA
Fig 2.1 Working of the PDS in Kerala - allocation, lifting and distribution process
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
month. The rice and wheat so allocated by the GOI are stored in the various
FCI godowns in the state. The FCI has 21 sub-depots in 13 districts and they
distribute rice and wheat directly to the wholesale distributors who supplies
the stock lifted to retail depot in accordance with the authority list issued by
the Taluk/ City Rationing Officers. The directions regarding the quantum of
grains to be allotted from the central pool and the issue prices are given by
GOL The State Government (through Kerala State Civil Supplies Department)
bring these orders into effect by passing the necessary directions which is
then carried through its administrative offices at the district level (District
Supply Office) and Taluk level (Taluk Supply Office). The flow of directions and
orders is shown by the arrow from the GOI to the State, district and taluk
offices and further to the AWDs and the ARDs. The actual distribution process
in accordance with the above directions is shown by the arrow from the FCI
depots to AWDS, ARDs and to the ultimate cardholders.
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
In each district, there is a District Supply Officer who is the head of the Civil
Supplies administration of each Revenue District. The concerned District
Collector also supervises the work of the District Supply Officer (DSO). Under
the District Supply Officer, there is a Taluk Supply Officer (TSO) in each taluk,
who is assisted by Rationing Inspectors (Rls). The three city Corporations of
Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode are further divided into two
zones each, and a City Rationing Officer (CRO) is put in charge of each zone.
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
+
1
CAO LO CONTROLLER ASI AS III
OF RATIONING
CONTROLLER SO AS II DEPUTY
OF RATIONING CONTROLLER
.-
.. OF RATIONING
1"'"""'- 1"'"""'- 1"'"""'- r-'- 1"'"""'- 1"'"""'- 1"'""" ...... r- ...... r-'- , ...... 1"'"""'- r-~ r- .....
DSO- K A P K I E T P M K W K K
TVM L L T T D K S K P K Y N S
M P A M K M R D M D D R D
' -- ' -- - - - '--- - - '--- - - L...- -
1 1 1 1 111 11· 1 1 11
EJrnrnrnrnrnEJ i rnrnrnrnrnrn
Fig 2.2: Organisation structure of the Kerala Civil Supplies Department
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Chapter II TPDS in Keraia- Structure & Policies
The introduction of the TPDS in the State brought about some major policy
changes in the functioning of the PDS. The present section is an in-depth
study of the changes introduced after the introduction of TPDS in the State.
The background of operationalisation of the Scheme in the State in terms of
identification of the targeted beneficiaries and the procedure adopted thereof
is explained and critically evaluated. The two major changes under the new
system are the revised price fixation and entitlements under the PDS. The
inter-temporal changes in this regard are studied along with its effect on the
additional subsidy incurred by the State Government.
The PDS has been one of the key elements of the food security system in
Kerala. The shift to the TPDS, a major policy shift by Government of India was
necessitated by a number of reasons - the improvement in the overall
availability of food grains and cereals, the existing PDS seen to be biased in
favour of certain States and urban areas, the PDS in its present form seen not
to be particularly effective in providing subsidized food grains to the poorer
groups, the need for control of food subsidy by targeting it to the poor
consumers etc. The Wor:king Group on National Policy on the PDS (June
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
1996), finally took a decision to target the benefits of the PDS towards the
poor and the TPDS was introduced throughout the country in June 1997.
Thus, with a view to streamlining the PDS with its focus on the poor,
Government of India decided to issue 10 Kgs of rice per month per family for
all the BPL families at 50 percent of the Economic Cost. The subsidized food
grains were to be allotted to the States in accordance with the estimated poor
in each State as per the estimates prepared by the Planning Commission. The
identification of the beneficiary families were to be done by the respective
state governments. The Planning Commission estimated the total number of
poor families in the State as 15.54 lakh households covering 25.43 percent of
the population. However, the State Government feeling that a large number of
BPL families would be excluded from the benefits of the Scheme, decided to
5
extend the benefits of the Scheme to 42 percent of the total households • The
subsidy of Rs. 11 - that was provided to all the cardholders prior to the
introduction of the TPDS was continued for the APL cardholders. The TPDS
st
was introduced in the State from 1 June 1997.
The strategy of the TPDS was to direct the food subsidies through the
identified poor households, termed as BPL households and to wean away the
remaining households from the ambit of subsidy. The Kerala Government
continued its universal coverage of the PDS, but with a dual price system.
Under the new System, 20.19 lakh households were identified as below
poverty line and provided BPL ration cards. A detailed Guidelines was issued
by the Food and Civil Supplies Department, Government of Kerala for the
identification of the targeted households and the implementation of the TPDS
in the State. The actual methodology adopted for the identification of BPL
households in the rural and urban areas along with the involved agency and
indicators considered are given in Appendix 2.3
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th
5 Government of Kerala vide its G.O.M.S.No. 12f97/F &CS dated 25 April 1997
th
6 Circular No 5709/D2/96/F.C.S.S dated 25 April 1997 issued by the Food and Civil Supplies
Department, Kerala
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
For the identification of the BPL households, the State Government collected
the existing BPL household list as identified by the Integrated Rural
Development Survey (lRDP) for the rural households and the Urban Poverty
Eradication Scheme (UPES) for the urban areas of the State. As per the
estimates of Government of Kerala based on IRDP estimates, around 40
percent of the households in the State were below poverty \line and hence
needed to be provided the benefits of the subsidized Scheme.
Given that there were complaints against the exclusion of many poor
households and inclusion of many non-poor households in the existing lists,
the lists were entrusted to the Grama Panchayats and Municipalities/
Municipal Corporations in the rural and urban areas respectively for the
purpose of validation and removing the existing irregularities with regard to
the above. The TSOs and the CTOs were entrusted with the responsibilities
of collecting the updated lists of the BPL households from these bodies and
submitting the same to the Civil Supplies Department.
The rural and the urban local bodies were given a month's time, beginning from
rd th
3 to 9 May 1997 to identify the final list of beneficiaries under the Scheme.
The lists were to be modified by the local bodies by including genuinely poor
households and excluding the non-poor households. However each of the Grama
Panchayatl Municipality/ Municipal Corporation was to confine the number of BPL
households to a maximum of 40 percent of the total number of household in the
area under their jurisdiction. All the households who were a part of the BPL
surveys prior to 1991, the earlier SCI ST beneficiaries of the IRDP/ UPES and
hence excluded in the present list, the eligible fisherman etc were also to be
included subject to the maximum ceiling of 40 percent. The local bodies were
however directed to finalize the lists as per the actual situation which meant that
even if the identified BPL households in any of these areas were below 40
percent of total households, the same was to be finalized. The Rls were directed
to supply the declaration forms to all the households in the area of their
jurisdiction which then had to be duly filled by the households and then submitted
to -the TSO/ CRO. A list of the ration card holders were also to be submitted by
the retail ration dealers.
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
The beneficiary lists along with the requirement of rice were to be submitted
to the District Collectors. The District Collector by the TSO/ CROs who in turn
was entrusted to provide the total number of identified poor households in the
whole district along with the requirement of rice to the Civil Supplies
Department.
The transition from the universal system of rationing to one where the benefits
were to be distributed to only the targeted segment of the population
necessitated the transparent identification of beneficiaries. This in turn
required an elaborate framework, objective criteria of identification of targeted
beneficiaries and an agency which could execute the same in a just manner.
The following conclu?ipns emerge after the evaluation of the procedure
7
adopted by the State Government to identify the targeted beneficiaries:
First, there were already large scale complaints of exclusion of poor and
8
inclusion of non-poor in the existing Iists . For a proper identification of the
genuine beneficiaries and to remove the anomalies that were existing, an
extensive survey was required The local bodies were given a month's time for
the finalization of the lists, which was certainly not adequate for objective
evaluation of the economic conditions of the households in any given area.
7The discussions with the officials of the local government, panchayats and municipal
members, have helped get a clearer picture about the actual identification of the targeted
beneficiaries.
-
8 IRDP Survey Lists for the rural areas and list compiled by the Urban Poverty Alleviation Cell
for the urban areas.
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
Third, with no objective criteria of identifying the poor households and the
autonomy of inclusion of BPL households subject to a ceiling of 40 percent
(proportion of BPL households to total households in each area), many non-
poor households seems to have been included in the final lists submitted by
the local bodies.
Finally, the IRDP Survey was conducted in 1990-91 and the criterion made
use of for the inclusion of households in the poor category was solely based
on income. The surveys that revolve around the concept of income is very
difficult to determine particul~Hly in a relatively educated society where people
know that lower the income, better would be their chance of getting assistance
from the government. The officials may fix the incomes in such a manner so
as to favour/ disfavour people in response to local pressures.
Under the Centrally fixed entitlement norms of TPDS, each BPL household
was entitled to 10 Kg of cereals per month at the subsidized BPL prices. The
allocation was increased to 20 Kg per family with effect from April 2000 and
further raised to 25Kg. Since April 2002, this amount was raised to 35 Kgs per
family for all the BPL, APL and AA Y households.
9 The APL rice was distributed as APL (Normal) and APL (Subsidy) during the initial years. A
given household was provided a certain quantum of rice at the subsidized price and the rest
at the normal price. The details of the exact quantum of rice allowed as APL (Normal) and
APL (Subsidy) were however not made available from the State Civil Supplies Department.
71
Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
The Centrally fixed norms on entitlement for the BPL households were also
applicable in Kerala till mid 2001, i.e. till additional subsidy was provided by the
State Government. The withdrawal of additional subsidy and allotment of the
given rice from the Centre to all the BPL households identified by the State meant
a further reduction in the entitlement for a given BPL household. From April 2002,
while the Centrally fixed entitlement per BPL household is at 35 Kgs per month,
the entitlement for a BPL household in Kerala is just around 25 Kgs.
Given that 20.19 lakh households were identified as BPL households by the State
Government, the subsidized food grains were to be allotted to the additional 4.85
households also at the subsidized BPL price, which necessitated additional
subsidy by the State Government. This was because the allotment of foodgrains
from the Centre was to be solely based on the poverty estimates by the Planning
Commission and the subsidy for all the households identified by the State
Government in excess of the GOI's estimates were to be borne by the State
Government themselves.
At the inception of TPDS in 1997, each BPL cardholder in the State was provided
10 Kg of rice per family (as per the Central Government norm) at a subsidized
price of Rs. 3.90/ Kg. These households also could meet their additional
requirements of rice at a price of Rs. 8.60 which was inclusive of 'one rupee
subsidy' by the State Government.
The addition a! subsidy was incurred by the State Government under the
following two heads.
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
The food grains, rice and wheat are issued by the central government at
uniform CIPs to states and union territories for distribution under TPDS. The
CIP for PDS are fixed taking into account the minimum support prices,
statutory charges, taxes payable on the support prices and the interest
charges. On the other hand, the retail issue prices are fixed by the State
Government taking into account the margins for wholesalers/ retailers,
transportation charges, levies, local taxes etc.
Infact, the additional subsidy of Rs. 1/ Kg existed from earlier times i.e. prior to
the introduction of the TPDS. Infact, when the issue prices were raised in
1992-93, the State Government provided an additional subsidy of Rs 4/Kg,
which was reduced to Rs. 2Ikg from 1994-95 and further to Rs. 1/Kg from
1O
1996-970nwards • Following the introduction of TPDS in the State, the 'one
rupee subsidy' was continued for the APL households and the BPL
households, in excess of the allotted 10 Kgs. The extent of subsidization of the
APL and the BPL households by the State Government after the introduction
of TPDS is given in Table 2.3.
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10 Revealed from the records of Civil Supplies Department and discussions with the Officials·
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
Table 2.3 Per unit Subsidy by State Government to APL households and
the Additional BPL households identified by the State Government.
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
Table 2.5 Price fixation for Additional BPL households (Jan-1999 to July 2001)
and all BPL households (Feb 2006 onwards)
*From this period onwards, the given BPL allotment from the Centre is distributed to all the BPL
households. .
When the issue prices of rice allotted to the APL households were increased
from 9.0SI Kg in April 2000 to 11.80 in June 2000, the State Government
increased the quantum of State subsidy to the APL households from Rs. IIKg
to Rs. 21Kg. This was reduced to 1.90/Kg from July 2000. The subsidy to the
APL households was provided till July 2001. The price fixation of rice for the
APL and the BPL households by the State Government post the introduction
of TPDS at different time periods is shown in Tables 2.4 and 2.S
The quantum of food subsidy for the BPL households too varied with the issue
price of common grade variety of rice issued to the APL households. To bring
down the price of the APL 'common grade' rice to the levels at which BPL
households were issued the subsidized rice, the quantum of food subsidy
varied in the range of Rs 3.S3/Kg to Rs. S.71/Kg during the period January
1999 to July 2001.
11
From July 2001 onwards , the State Government discontinued with the
provision of subsidy to the identified additional BPL households and from this
11As per the price fixation register of the Civil Supplies Department, the additional subsidy of the
ttl
State Government was discontinued from 13 July 2001 and the final retail prices from then
onwards were seen to be fixed after fixing the necessary margins to the C!P. The Administrative
Reports of the Civil Supplies Department however mentions that the State
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Chapter /I TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
period onwards, the allotment received from the Centre is being distributed to all
the identified BPL households in the State. The discontinuation of subsidy in
2001 could be the result of the worsening of State Government finances and one
12
among the steps considered to prune up its high expenditure.
The State Government however started providing additional subsidy for all the
identified BPL households from February 2006 onwards. From this period
onwards, each BPL household in the State is distributed ration rice at the rate of
Rs. 3/Kg (prevalent CIP being Rs. 5.65/Kg i.e. an additional subsidy of Rs.
3.20/Kg). The month wise lifting of BPL and APL rice from the FCI by the AWDs
along with the monthly subsidy incurred by the State Government (and
transferred to FCI) is given in Appendix Tables 3.1 to 3.3. The annual subsidy
incurred by the State Government during the period 1998-99 till July 2001 and
further from Feb 2006 till December 2007 is given in Table 2.6. The quantum of
subsidy incurred by the State Government is based on the monthly lifting of the
grains by the wholesale dealers.
subsidy for rice was discontinued from December 2001. However given the unavailability of
subsidy figures from July 2001 onwards, the former statement appears to be correct
12 Nair (2003). points out that the growth rate of total debt is the highest in the year 1999-2000,
when it increased by 28.5 percent. The White Paper on State Finances (2001) stated that if Kerala
government does not put a stop to the growth of the total debt, a stage would soon come when
Kerala would be unable to fulfili its debt servicing obligations and further that unless the State
Government arrests its excessive dependence on debt to finance its budgetary operations, the
question mark over the sustainability of its high social expenditure remains.
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Chapter II TPDS in Kerala- Structure & Policies
With the rise in issue prices, the State Government also had to increase the
quantum of subsidy. Table 2.7 shows the actual subsidy incurred by the State
13
Government during the period 1998-99 till 2001-02 after which it was
discontinued. The additional subsidy for the BPL households increased from
Rs. 17.74 crores in 1998-99 to Rs. 26.74 crores in 1999-2000 to 32.95 crores
in 2000-01. The total quantum of subsidy for the BPL and the APL households
increased from Rs. 96.78 crores in 1998-99 to Rs. 97.31 crores in 1999-2000.
However the total subsidy fell to Rs. 38.83 crores in 2000-01 owing to fall in
the lifting of APL foodgrains.
The wide variation in the estimated figures 14 and the actual subsidy incurred
by the State Government is on account of the AWDs' (Authorised Wholesale
Dealers) not lifting as per the allotments. Given that the subsidy was incurred
to make rice available to the ultimate consumers at a reduced price, the
difference between the actual cost and the lower price at which it was made
available to the wholesale dealers, was transferred to the Fel, the subsidy
incurred thus being in direct relation with the amount of rice actually lifted by
the AWDs. The quantum of subsidy incurred for the BPL households
increased by 9 crores in 1998-99 and more than 6 crores in 2000-01, from
the immediate previous years. On the other hand, the subsidy on the APL
households decreased from 79 crores in 1998-99 to 70.5 crores in 1999-2000
and further drastically declined to 5.8 crores in 2000-01.The fall in the APL
subsidy was a result of drastic reduction in the lifting of the APL rice by the
wholesale dealers, which in turn was a direct consequence of the withdrawal
of the APL households from the PDS.
https://rupeenomics.com/kerala-ration-card-apply-on-civilsupplieskerala-gov-in/
13 The figures for 1997-98 was not available in the Directorate of Civil Supplies & the State FCI
Office. However given that the issue prices were the same and the entitlement per BPL household
continued to be 10 Kgs per month as in the subsequent year, broadly the subsidy incurred should
also have been in the same range as in 1998-99
14 For e.g., Kannan (2000) estimates the additional State Government subsidy to the tune of Rs.
188 crores per annum. Suryananarayana (2001) estimates the additional subsidy for the poor
households at Rs. 48 crores at the time of inception of the TPDS.
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