Fix target people for food rationing

Introduction of rationing system will not be effective without identifying the target group and enhancement of administrative capacity, experts said yesterday.
"The government must conduct research and improve the capacity of the administration before introducing the rationing system," Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud told reporters after chairing a seminar on 'Market volatility, vulnerability and food security in Bangladesh: Strategic choices and policy options' at Sheraton Hotel in the capital.
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and the Department for International Development (DFID) jointly organised the seminar attended by experts from India, England and Thailand.
A sudden decision will not benefit the target group, said Prof Wahiduddin, a renowned economist and former adviser to a caretaker government.
The issue came to the fore after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said her government would introduce rationing system to help all sections of people cope with the price hike of essentials.
Over 40 percent of the country's population now live in poverty while 20 percent is ultra poor.
Eminent agronomist Dr Mahbub Hossain also expressed his doubt about the impact of the rationing system without identifying the members of target group and closing the administrative loopholes.
"There must be checks and balances, otherwise the initiative will go in vain like the previous one," Dr Mahbub said.
Both Prof Wahiduddin and Dr Mahbub mentioned instances of pilferage and mismanagement in the rationing system in the 1980s.
Public intervention in food grain markets of Bangladesh is not new. It started during the Bengal Famine of 1943, at the height of World War II. By the late 1980s, public involvement in food markets included rationing schemes to distribute food grains to all urban consumers and the rural poor.
In early 1990s the rationing system was abolished because of mismanagement. A government study had found that 70 percent of rural rationing programme's food grains did not reach the target population. The government abolished rural rationing system and saved an estimated amount of $60 million a year.
"In 1980s, I had found in my research that one-third population of a char did not have ration cards although they all were supposed to enjoy the facility," Prof Wahiduddin said, adding that the situation was the same in rural areas.
Terming the latest government move a 'noble one', he said before introducing the rationing system, the government must conduct thorough research and collect information about the experiences of other countries in running such systems.
Dr Mahbub said the government should identify a fixed-income target group for providing them with price support. For example industrial workers at Savar and Gazipur and lower-class government employees might be the initial target people.
Prof Wahiduddin said the prices would not come down to the level it was a few years ago.
Dr Mahbub said the government should also ensure that the producers get fair prices of their goods.
Prof S Mahendra Dev, chairman of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices of India, focused on how his government provides price support to the poor. The Indian government provides 35 kgs of food grains to the poorest of poor families at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2 a kg for wheat and Rs 3 a kg for rice. This group is given a special card. The government also runs some five lakh fair price outlets across India, he added.
Dr Somporn Isvilanonda, a member of Rice Policy Panel of Thailand, said agriculture sector is highly subsidised in Thailand and irrigation is provided free to the farmers there.
BIDS Director General Dr Quazi Shahabuddin, Atiur Rahman of Dhaka University, Uttam Deb of Centre for Policy Dialogue and Chris Austin of DFID, among others, spoke.
The speakers also stressed the need for increasing production of food grains using modern technology.