The text of my letter to the Commissioner, Social Welfare, Government of Karnataka.
Dear Sir,
This letter is to bring to your attention the misuse of free rations being provided to tribal households living around the periphery of the Bandipur National Park. The tribal households here are extremely poor, suffer from severe malnutrition and chronic alcoholism and live in lamentable conditions.
I understand that each such tribal household is provided every month with the following rations : toor dal, ragi, green gram or horse gram, jaggery, oil, eggs and, occasionally, ghee.
I am deeply appreciative of the Government’s intent on improving the nutrition value of food consumed by the tribals, yet what I reliably learnt was that most of these provisions were being sold by the beneficiaries to middlemen, in exchange for cash and/or alcohol, or occasionally towards the repayment of loans. These provisions therefore re-enter the market in various forms and are not having the impact that the scheme intends to achieve. Indeed, as a result of the scheme, the increased purchasing power due to sale of free provisions is resulting in increased alcohol consumption and indebtedness – quite the opposite effect to what is intended and, hence, an unintended consequence. This diversion by the tribal population is estimated by some locals to be as much as 75% of the total supply of provisions to the area.
After some study and discussions with local school teachers, I am therefore volunteering the following suggestion – rather than provide free rations, could the Government provide free meals to the tribals, keeping in mind
- Local food preferences around a pre-agreed simple menu
- Addition of nutritional supplements if necessary, and locally-grown vegetables ?
This will significantly
a) reduce diversion
b)reduce the expenditure on alcohol
c)improve nutrition; and
d)provide nominal additional employment opportunities in the area
This could be either directly done by the Government (as in the case of the mid-day meal scheme there) or in partnership with credible non-governmental organisations that have experience in this service.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Dear Sir,
This letter is to bring to your attention the misuse of free rations being provided to tribal households living around the periphery of the Bandipur National Park. The tribal households here are extremely poor, suffer from severe malnutrition and chronic alcoholism and live in lamentable conditions.
I understand that each such tribal household is provided every month with the following rations : toor dal, ragi, green gram or horse gram, jaggery, oil, eggs and, occasionally, ghee.
I am deeply appreciative of the Government’s intent on improving the nutrition value of food consumed by the tribals, yet what I reliably learnt was that most of these provisions were being sold by the beneficiaries to middlemen, in exchange for cash and/or alcohol, or occasionally towards the repayment of loans. These provisions therefore re-enter the market in various forms and are not having the impact that the scheme intends to achieve. Indeed, as a result of the scheme, the increased purchasing power due to sale of free provisions is resulting in increased alcohol consumption and indebtedness – quite the opposite effect to what is intended and, hence, an unintended consequence. This diversion by the tribal population is estimated by some locals to be as much as 75% of the total supply of provisions to the area.
After some study and discussions with local school teachers, I am therefore volunteering the following suggestion – rather than provide free rations, could the Government provide free meals to the tribals, keeping in mind
- Local food preferences around a pre-agreed simple menu
- Addition of nutritional supplements if necessary, and locally-grown vegetables ?
This will significantly
a) reduce diversion
b)reduce the expenditure on alcohol
c)improve nutrition; and
d)provide nominal additional employment opportunities in the area
This could be either directly done by the Government (as in the case of the mid-day meal scheme there) or in partnership with credible non-governmental organisations that have experience in this service.
I look forward to hearing from you,
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.