A district level public hearing was organized in the
Block premises of the Meral Block in Garhwa district, Jharkhand. The jury of
the hearing was headed by the Jharkhand State Advisor to the Supreme Court on
Right to Food, Mr. Balram. Also present in the jury were Jawahar Mehta (Convener,
Jharkhand NREGA Watch), DDC- Garhwa, SDO- Garhwa, SWO, DPO, one of the 2
CDPO’s, Panchayat level representatives of the concerned Panchayats and workers
of Public Health Resource Network (PHRN) and Gram Swaraj Abhiyaan (GSA).
Data on the status of the welfare schemes catering
to nutrition viz. ICDS, Mid-Day Meals and Public Distribution System was
provided by PHRN and GSA. A report representing the overall status of
Aanganwadi centres, quality and regularity of Ration distribution under PDS and
Mid-Day Meals was presented to the jury by workers of PHRN and GSA. The blocks
chosen for the survey for the Public Hearing were Meral, Dandai, Chinia and
Bardiha.
The Scenario
Public Distribution System:
Status: Cases were reported from almost all the Panchayats
in the chosen blocks of grain entitlements being given lesser than the
specified quantity. Kerosene that is rated at Rs.15 per litre is being provided
at Rs. 18-20 per liter and Rice that should be provided at Rs. 35 for 35 righttofoodindia@gmail.comper household is being provided at Rs. 50. In Chinia
block, the PTG families are being given 27 kg per household instead of 35 kg
per household; the marketing officer said that the list of PTG’s have lesser
people registered than the actual population and it was a unanimous decision
taken with the community to give 27 kg of grains instead of 35 kg so that all
the people receive grains. Also, grains were not supplied for 5 months and then
it was provided in a bulk.
Response: Mr. Balram said that charging more than the
specified rate or providing lesser grains than the amount entitled is a clear
violation of the Supreme Court Orders. The DDC asked that an inquiry will be
done in the case of lesser grain supplied by the dealers and relicensing will
be done accordingly. In case of the PTG’s, Mr. Balram said that they are
entitled to 35kg of grains free of cost (according to an order by the state
govt in 2007) and the survey of their population should be updated immediately
to take the benefits to all the beneficiaries. He also said that the rates of
the grains/kerosene should be displayed in the open or at the PDS shop for the
convenience of the public.
Integrated Child Development Scheme:
Status: Cases were
reported from all the blocks that Aanganwadi Centres are not opened regularly,
THR’s aren’t provided according to the specified quantity and their measurement
is not done properly and the monitoring of children suffering from malnutrition
isn’t being done and attendance is being registered irregularly or falsely. In
a case from Chinia block, there are no Aanganwadi centres in two hamlets of
PTG’s that have a population over 500. The Aanganwadi Sevika of the Kolodohar
Aanganwadi centre in Meral Block lives in Garhwa town and visits the Aanganwadi
centre once in a month! Also, it was reported that 365 children from Meral
block and nearly 2000 children in the entire district are severely affected by
malnutrition.
Response: Mr. Balram said that it is a violation of the
Supreme Court orders on Aanganwadi centres if there isn’t one for a population
of 500. And they should be opened immediately. The Block should send a
requisition to the centre for the centre if they haven’t sent and if they have,
they should send a reminder. This should be treated as utmost priority. It was
also announced that the Aanganwadi Sevika of the kolodohar centre should be
suspended as the appointment is in violation of the law. Mr. Balram also said
that the information about the Take Home Rations should be displayed at the
Aanganwadi.
Mr. Balram also ordered that a report should be prepared
explaining the overall scenario of nutrition in the District, action should be
taken accordingly to treat malnourishment affected mothers and children
and asked for a resolve to make Garhwa a Malnutrition free district.
Mid Day Meals:
Status: It was reported almost from all the blocks that
mid-day meals scheme is running properly and only one case came out from Meral
block in which it was reported that rice wasn’t allotted to the village school
for mid day meals.
Response: The Supplies officer said that there was delay in
allotment to them itself which resulted in the delay in supply to the schools
and hence the delay. Mr. Balram said that such delay should not be repeated in
future. Grain can be purchased on loan or from the market in such a case.
Other Highlights
·
There
was uproar from all the dealers of the PDS shops that they haven’t been given
their commissions since a long time and they are also being charged higher than
the specified rate from the block. They were assured of their benefits.
·
A
Panchayat Samiti member from Karkoma Panchayat, Block Meral reported that she
had filed a complaint to the BDO about the irregularities in an Aanganwadi
centre. Mr. Balram said that her complaint should be immediately responded as
this is very healthy for the Panchayati Raj System that the representatives are
practicing their responsibility.
