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‘Workable but cost attached’: Food department looks for ways to make doorstep ration delivery operational
The AAP government’s doorstep ration delivery scheme is expected to put a huge burden on the state exchequer
: The Punjab food and supplies department is considering various viable options to make the AAP government’s ambitious scheme of doorstep ration delivery in the state operational with some in the department terming the decision as “workable” but with a “cost attached” to it.
The move is expected to put a huge burden on the state exchequer. Sources in the department said that for door-to-door delivery, as per an estimate by a car manufacturing company, the cost of vehicles will involve a sum of Rs. 500 crores excluding the cost of drivers.
“Who will fund this cost?” asked an officer in the department.
Chief minister Mann, while announcing the initiative, offered to give dal (pulses) to the beneficiaries.This has put the food department staff in a quandary as currently only wheat is given. “Who would fund the pulses and how much is to be given. this is yet to be decided,” said another officer on request of anonymity.
Other than the doorstep delivery, the option of giving wheat flour has been added which would add cost, time and logistics. The distribution involves delivery of at least 7 lakh quintals of grain or flour at 36 lakh points if the scheme has to be run monthly. At present, wheat is offered under the NFSA in a cycle of three months.
The department pays a sum of Rs. 50 per quintal for depot holders as handling charges. “The government may offer him some more amount for doorstep delivery as already we are reaching close to 200-300 meters for delivery of wheat,” the official said.
The food department is considering to hire one delivery staff for every ration depot which would also generate additional employment.
Going by the number of ration depots in the state and the beneficiary families, each depot has at least 200 beneficiaries attached and it is not practical for a person to reach out to all the beneficiaries in a depot, said an officer in the department.
As per the current system, a network of 17,540 ration depots in the state supports the distribution of ration. Some villages have even one or more depots and big cities in the state have a chain of hundreds of state-controlled ration depots.
Food and civil supplies secretary Gurkirat Kirpal Singh said Punjab can run the system very efficiently as the state already has a well-oiled distribution and procurement network.
“We are examining various models for delivery and will come out with a concrete plan very soon,” he said.
The department already has a tie-up with the transporters who carry wheat to ration depots. The services of the transporters can use used for doorstep delivery.
The food department also has in mind to engage delivery companies such as Amazon for delivery of wheat.
The AAP government in Delhi had started the door-to-door delivery which hit a roadblock after the Centre objected to it. The system of door-to-door ration delivery is in practise in Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
