Baijayant to move cash transfers in PDS Bill

BHUBANESWAR: Baijayant Panda, the BJD MP from Kendrapara, will move a private member’s bill in  the Lok Sabha for incorporating cash transfer system to plug loopholes in the public distribution system as well as provide more accurate access to beneficiaries. Phased Incorporation of Cash Transfers in PDS Bill, 2011 is likely to be introduced in the winter session. According to the statement of objects and reasons of the draft bill, the past decade has seen several countries make highly successful transitions towards cash transfer systems.  In 2005, the Planning Commission estimated that the Government had spent ` 3.65 to transfer ` 1 worth of food, suggesting leakage of about 70 per cent. This places a considerable financial burden on the government that spends more money on ensuing that goods reach their destination rather than on the goods itself, it said. Delinking transfer benefits from their minimum support prices and have them regulated by the free markets would disincentivise hoarding of cheap grain.  Incorporating cash transfers in a timely, targeted manner would make our current PDS better suited to meet the needs of a growing population as well as help break the cycle of hunger, malnutrition and poverty.