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‘THEY UNITED AND THE SYSTEM CHANGED’: COLLECTIVE ACTION IN A BIHAR VILLAGE

Shashvat Singh

The community-managed public distribution system (PDS) in Shekhwara village in Bodh Gaya block in Gaya district of Bihar is the first of its kind in the state. The second PDS shop has started functioning recently in Bhusiya village nearby. In Shekhwara, the formation of self-help groups (SHGs) began in 2006 among the women belonging to the socially and economically backward sections of the village. There are 23 SHGs currently functioning in the village. All of these have elected a president, a treasurer, and a secretary from among their members. These three officials of each SHG constitute a village organisation (VO) called the Annapurna Gram Sangathan, which was formed in 2007. The VO members are responsible for running the PDS shop in the village.
Immediately after its formation, the VO started monitoring the implementation of various government schemes, such as the midday meal scheme, PDS, and other welfare programmes, to ensure the maximum benefit to the intended beneficiaries. It mainly concentrated on PDS as the villagers in need were not getting rice, wheat, or kerosene oil on time. This was happening because of massive corruption in the dealer-managed PDS. The situation caused much anxiety and anguish among the villagers. So the VO decided to formulate and adopt a proper mechanism to avail the maximum benefit from the PDS shop in the village. Complaints were filed in the offices of the Block Development Officer, the District Magistrate, and the Divisional Commissioner regarding embezzlement and irregularity in the PDS. After proper scrutiny, a First Information Report was lodged against the then dealer and the PDS shop was auctioned. To permanently end the menace of corruption in the management of this shop, the VO members decided to take the reins of running it into their own hands. But in doing this, they encountered the following three major problems:
1. How to get a licence for the shop?
2. How to arrange the capital required for this purpose?
3. How to ensure the proper management of the shop once it was acquired?
On seeing the honest efforts of the VO, the then Commissioner of Magadh division, Mr K. P. Ramaiah, played a pivotal role by helping the body obtain a licence for running the PDS shop. The VO was issued the licence in November 2008, with Ms Kari Devi as president. Ms Jasoda Devi and Ms Veena Devi were appointed treasurer and secretary respectively. The training for running the PDS shop was given to ten working committee members of the VO by the employees of the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society and by the then Block Public Distribution Officer, Mr Rajesh Kumar. Thus began the distribution of 3 litres of kerosene oil, 15 kg of wheat, and 10 kg of rice to each coupon holder, depending on the kind of coupon held, such as the red card or yellow card, and so on. Currently, there are 413 ration card holders in the village.
On the basis of my interaction with the VO members and personal observation, I found that community-managed PDS shops are much better run than the dealer-managed ones, as the former inject more transparency into the system. In this region, community-managed PDS shops have led in particular to a reduction in the black marketing of kerosene oil to a large extent, which is a noteworthy achievement. Since the PDS shop is now managed by the VO members, who also happen to be a part of the SHG community, the scope for corruption has been minimised to a great extent. In addition, the distribution of commodities is taking place almost every month, which was not the case earlier.
As far as the functioning of this community-managed PDS shop is concerned, the coupons for taking rice, wheat, and kerosene oil are issued by the panchayat secretary. The coupon is collected every month in advance for the succeeding month and is given to the Marketing Officer, who then releases the food grains and the kerosene oil strictly in accordance with the coupon submitted. Along with the coupon, a bank draft for the required amount of money is also submitted. The transportation and labour cost is borne by the VO. Once the food grains and the kerosene oil reach the village, the VO members take steps to distribute the commodities to the coupon holders.
According to Ms Veena Devi, Secretary, Annapurna Gram Sangathan, the VO earns around Rs 25,000/- annually from this shop. The efficient management of the PDS shop by the sangathan has won them accolades from the chief minister of the state, Mr Nitish Kumar. On seeing the success of the community-managed PDS shop, the dealers in the nearby areas have also started changing their working style because they are scared that if they do not improve, their shops will also be taken over by the VO in their area. This has already happened in Bhusiya, a nearby village, under the leadership of Ms Vaijayanti Devi, the president of the Ganga Gram Sangathan. In Shekhwara, most inhabitants now realise that every problem has a solution, but also recognise that the issue needs to be worked on effectively and sincerely by all parties involved. As far as I am concerned, I have gained important practical experience of collective action and co-operation in the real world.
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PRM 2009-11 Participant, Insitute of Rural Management, Anand,
Email: p30044@irma.ac.in