Public distribution of anger

The 'food riots' in West Bengal is a sharp jolt to the Left Front regime's pro-poor pretensions

Rajat Roy Kolkata

If the Congress-led UPA government is facing the Left threat on the nuclear issue, the Left, in turn, has been kept in check by the Congress where it hurts the most. Recent ration riots across West Bengal have raised serious doubts about the quality of the delivery system put in place by the CPM-led Left Front (LF) government to supply basic needs to the poor and deprived. Even after two months, there seems to be no sign of weakening of the 'food agitation'.

Two people have already been killed in police firing, and many more injured. Four ration shop-owners have committed suicide. Five people were injured when a ration shop-owner in Bankura opened fire when his house was surrounded by angry villagers. Angry mobs attacked government offices and set ablaze police cars.

At this stage, the Congress spokesperson's comment in Delhi on the riots and food security in Bengal has rubbed salt on the wounds of the Left. The CPM politburo reacted sharply and reminded the Congress that last year at least 3,000 children died of malnourishment in Maharashtra, a Congress-ruled state.

For the CPM, which swears by the cause of the poor, the ration riots have come as a nightmare. A party that is always vocal for the strengthening of the public distribution system (PDS) now realises that all is not well on its own turf. The common refrain in the agitation spreading over nine districts in the south and one district in north Bengal is that ration shop owners are entrenched in a corrupt nexus, mostly affiliated to or patronised by CPM leaders. Instead of making a weekly quota of wheat and rice available to the card-holders, they often sell them in the open market at a higher margin.

The West Bengal government is trying to blame the Congress: their main argument is that the Centre has slashed the state's quota of food grain. But the people are not convinced. Agitators in all districts have resorted to imposing punitive tax on ration shop-owners; while a many shop-owners paid, others have fled.

After 20,000 ration shop owners threatened to surrender their licence, the government was forced to take emergency measures. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya spoke to representatives of the shop-owners and promised them police protection. The CPM state secretary Biman Bose is raising the bogey of a 'conspiracy' against the Left.

A close examination of the agitation, however, gives a completely different picture. The first unrest took place in Bankura district, at Indas on August 23, and within the next three days spread to Sonamukhi, Patrasayar and Onda. On September 14, angry mobs surrounded a CPM party conference (where the local ration dealer was present as a member-participant) and the first incident of firing took place. From mid-September, the agitation started in Birbhum's Kirnahar, Labhpur, Saithia, Nalhati and Burdwan's Kanksa, Mangalkot and other places, and by early October, almost nine districts of south Bengal were seriously involved in these 'mass protests'.

Significantly, Bankura, Burdwan and Birbhum  — three districts where the movement gathered momentum — are strong CPM bases. In all these districts, activists and supporters of the ruling Left Front took part in the protests. Forward Bloc leader Debabrata Biswas refused to condemn the agitation. 

A clear indication of the involvement of CPM's lower rung is that in Burdwan a number of articles looted from ration dealers were returned after the local CPM leadership intervened. The ration riots were mostly spearheaded by the Above Poverty Line (APL) card-holders who are hit by price rise and are trying to fall back upon the crumbling ration system.

The Supreme Court issued several directives in 2003-2004 to ensure food security for the rural poor. Following that, in August 2006, the state government issued a notification explaining the quota of wheat and rice and their different prices for the APL, BPL (Below Poverty Line), Antyoday and Annapurna categories. According to rules, every ration shop-owner has to put up a list showing the products available with the price range to keep the card-holders informed. Ration shop-owners seldom do that and the government turns a blind eye.

In 1967, West Bengal's first Left government came to power riding on social unrest and popular wave of a 'food movement'. Now, after 40 years, another food movement came as a reminder that there are serious problems in the state's much flaunted pro-poor programmes.