System failure?

People’s Democracy carries an interview with West Bengal CPM secretary Biman Basu. He speaks about strengthening the public distribution system. His comments come in the backdrop of the food riots in the state.

Basu claims “Despite many odds, the public distribution system is being maintained in Bengal and this is not liked by reactionary forces and opposition. They want to disrupt the system as a whole. The party has taken steps to alert the people of this danger through mass campaign.” He says that a meeting was held by the chief minister with the food minister, panchayat minister and finance minister and it took some important decisions. “There will be a public display of the quantum of allocations received by the ration shops. Apart from strengthening the monitoring system, it has been decided that over a period of time all ration cards shall be replaced with the photo identity cards of the voters’ list.”

Sachar in Kerala

There is a lengthy report on what the Left Front government in Kerala intends to do on the Sachar recommendations. At a convention on the Sachar report in the state, “The chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, declared that a special officer would be appointed to coordinate the welfare measures. Special cells would be organised at the state secretariat and the district collectorates to monitor the measures. A welfare scheme would be evolved in consultation with the state Wakf Board for the benefit of around one and a half lakhs of madrassa teachers of the state.” Achuthanandan criticised the central government of adopting delaying tactics in the case of the Sachar Report. The Left-led governments are going ahead with concrete plans to implement the recommendations, he said.