Centre for Adivasi Research and Development and Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch survey findings revealed, 51 per cent of the adivasi households and 56 per cent of the total households were excluded from the Public Distribution System (PDS) in Jharkhand. Even 60 per cent of Below Poverty line (BPl) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cardholders did not receive full grain they were entitled.
Socio-economic survey done in six selected villages of Jharkhand on education status, MGNREGA, implementation of varied agricultural policy and food security depicts the pathetic state of tribal people in remote villages. The survey was done in Khartanga (Gumla), Hehal (Ranchi), Belgaria Township (Dhanbad), Jolo (Dumka) and Ambajora (Pakur).
The survey was done under the supervision of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) economic professor, Vikash Rawal and activists of Adivasi Adhikar Rashtra Manch. Citing details about the status of Food Security in remote villages of Jharkhand, Vikash Rawal informed, “Recently, the Jharkhand government has implemented the National food Security Act (NFSA) under which all covered families will receive 5 Kilograms of grain per member. According to our survey, even if all existing cardholders have the cards, 70 per cent of them would get less grain than before because of a decline in entitlement.”
Discussing about the selection criteria, Rawal further added, “The criteria that have been used to select the beneficiaries which have resulted in an increase of 4.5 times in urban beneficiaries of public distribution while the increase in rural beneficiaries is only about 23 per cent. While conducting survey in Hehal, it was found that there has been a reduction in the number of cardholders after the implementation of NFSA.”
Under the NFSA, while a majority of rural households are going to get less grain they got before, there has been a very small increase in the number of rural households that will be covered, the survey report revealed.
“In Jolo (Dumka), where all the households belong to Mal Paharia Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), all households are entitled to AAY cards. However, according to the survey only 45 per cent of the households had AAY cards and 13 per cent had BPl cards while 42 per cent household had been exempted and they do not have any card to avail the various schemes. No house in Jolo has been added in the new Government list,” added Rawal.
Citing details about the survey procedure on food security, Centre for Adivasi Research and Development, Director, Smita Gupta, informed, “On the basis of calorie intake, the report revealed that 76 per cent people do not consume adequate food. We asked about inadequate food, lack of nutritious food and problems of not getting meals because of lack of money and other resources. We created a statistical index for measuring food. According to the index, 88 percent people in our survey village lists were food insecure or do not get proper food to consume.”