Poor families get less than promised: CPD
Beneficiaries of the food-friendly programme for the poor received 11 kilograms less rice than the government's promised quantity, according to a survey by the Centre for Policy Dialogue.
Under the scheme, 388,695 tonnes of rice were distributed at Tk 10 a kg throughout the country by 9,878 dealers between September and November last year.
A dealer on average covered 498 beneficiaries each. However, each of the 49 lakh beneficiaries received on average 79kg of rice, which is significantly lower than the targeted amount of Tk 90 kg, the think-tank said.
“This calls for an explanation,” said CPD, adding a part of the allocated quantity perhaps ended up with vested quarters, including the dealers.
The food ministry allocated 750,000 tonnes of rice for distribution in two phases during the lean seasons: September-November and March-April of the year.
During the lean season, the prices of rice in the retail market usually show an upward trend, according to the CPD. The think-tank, referring to newspaper reports, said the programme suffers from leakages, inappropriate inclusion, unjustified exclusion and selling of rice in the black market.
“This could explain the significant gap between the targets and the amount actually received by the beneficiaries.”
The programme experienced a number of irregularities that were addressed albeit partially through subsequent corrective actions, the CPD said, citing official documents that the government has cancelled 4.5 percent of total beneficiary cardholders. The survey, which was conducted in late December last year, cited Narsingdi as an example. The average amount received by the beneficiaries was found to be 82kg -- 8kg lower than the targeted quantity of 90kg.
In Narsingdi, the government's programme covered 63,039 poor families, who received about 5,219 tonnes of rice, the CPD said in its analysis citing data from the district food control office. Distribution across different upazilas showed signification variations.
Beneficiaries in Sadar upazila of Narsingdi received less than 80kg, while those in Palash and Monohardi upazilas got about 100kg, said Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director of the CPD.
The programme was initiated at a time when there was a demand to provide support to people affected by the floods in May-July of 2016.
After May, the prices of rice in the retail market, particularly that of the coarse variety, started to rise.
The FFP was justified in terms of addressing the needs of the distressed, as they are not covered in any of the existing 144 social safety net programmes, according to the CPD.
All the flood-affected districts have been covered under the FFP.
The CPD said a lack of adequate stock has caused the food ministry to stop selling rice under open market sales. The case study found the identification of most of the beneficiaries and selection of dealers did not comply with the official process. Beneficiaries were identified by dealers and temporary dwellers were included.
Before initiating the second phase in March, the government should take stock of the experience and undertake corrective measures to raise efficiency in allocation, avoid selection bias and develop better transparency in management and operation, the CPD said. Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow of CPD, said the programme should be extended to garment workers to improve their standards of living.
It is generally expected that a broad-based social safety net programmes on the distribution of rice would also have a certain price stabilisation effect on the market.
However, the review of price movement during the corresponding period finds that the price of rice, particularly that of coarse rice, has indeed shown some upward movement when the programme was being implemented, according to the analysis.
A decline in boro production possibly due to the adverse effects of floods in 20 districts last year and decreasing public stocks may have been the reasons for the rise in the retail prices of rice, said the CPD.
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