Source**
Ration cards again**
Thursday, January 24, 2008
For the first time in decades, ration cards are to be introduced once again as a means to enable people to obtain ‘;atta’ at affordable prices. The decision taken in this respect by the federal caretaker cabinet underscores what grave proportions the wheat flour crisis in the country has assumed, and particularly the increased sense of insecurity it has created for many families who remain uncertain of whether, and at what price, they will be able to obtain the sacks of ‘atta’ that provide the staple grain for most people. It has been stated that the ration cards will be given to low- and middle-income families, enabling them to purchase ‘atta’ at set prices from utility stores. As yet no details regarding the criterion on which cards will be given to such persons have been announced. The administration must, while drawing up the strategy in this regard, keep in mind that in the past, the ration card system has been misused – and with elections approaching care must also be taken to ensure it does not become a means for local government officials or others in influential places to favour handpicked individuals. The use of the ‘atta’ crisis to gain political mileage has already been reported across Punjab, and the possibility that attempts may be made to extract similar advantage from the ration card system must be guarded against.
While the cabinet’s efforts to offer relief to those worst hit by the ‘atta’ crisis are appreciable, the need to discover exactly how the present situation came about must be stressed. The fact is that, with a bumper wheat harvest reported early in 2007, the current shortage should simply not have arisen. The caretaker prime minister has correctly warned that stringent action will be taken against hoarders, smugglers and black marketers. But the possibility of those who at one point occupied key government slots being involved must also be looked into, and evidence that emerges in this regard not ignored, even if it proves to be a source of embarrassment to those at the top.
The allegations from opposition parties that the Punjab government or central finance planners engaged in the fudging of figures, or even that amounts running into millions were minted by creating the wheat crisis are after all extremely grave ones. Not surprisingly former Punjab chief minister Pervaiz Elahi has blamed former prime minister Shaukat Aziz for the atta crisis. Indeed, it has been reported that so widespread has the trend of manipulating figures grown that even government departments themselves are no longer certain what the ‘real’ data is. This situation not only makes planning in any sector virtually impossible, it also puts the welfare of people and the stability of the country at risk when essential food crops such as wheat are involved. As for the ugly allegations of corruption, they need a probe at the very highest level – if only to clear the names of reputations of those towards whom fingers are being pointed, or else to punish them for so selfishly playing with the fate of citizens.
The effectiveness of the ration card system to be enforced will become clearer only over time, once the details and the method of implementing the new rules, are made known. Till then, it can only be hoped the measure will bring some relief to people who have faced a growing ‘atta’ crisis for many weeks now and have found that many of the official promises made that it would be controlled within days carried no weight at all.
