Embarking upon the largest ever VGF programme

The VGF is one of the programmes of the public food distribution system (PFDS). The function of the PFDS is to provide a first line of defence in the event of a food emergency. There are groups of people in the rural areas who are normally self-sufficient, but in times of food shortages resulting from poor harvests or damage to their on-firm stocks because of drought, flood or any other natural disaster, they do not have the resources necessary for purchasing their required food needs from the market. For these groups, releasing grain into the market does not resolve their plight, as due to lack of purchasing power they are unable to gain access to it. Under these circumstances, programmes such as food for work, VGF, test relief (TR), and gratuitous relief (GR), are required to provide food supplements for these people.

The areas which come within the ambit of the VGF programme include: (a) the areas which are vulnerable to disasters like flood and river erosion, (b) the areas which suffer from any other sudden natural disaster, and (c) the areas which have large-scale seasonal unemployment of labourers due to little non-farming activities.

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According to a food and disaster management ministry source, a beneficiary of VGF programme gets 10 kilogram of rice for himself/herself and his/her family per month. For being enlisted as a beneficiary, he/she has to satisfy either of the two basic conditions. One, he/she should not have stable source of income. The ultra poor of the society fall into this category. Second, as a result of any natural disaster, he/she has been affected and dislocated.

The programme has been in operation for years in the following places: (1) Northern districts of the country namely Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Gaibandha and part of Rangpur; (2) Jamalpur, Sherpur and part of Mymensingh; (3) Haor areas namely Sunamganj, Habiganj and Netrokona; and (4) Coastal areas such as Noakhali and Bhola.

Let me come back to the questions that have been raised. The year 2005 has so far been a non-disaster year. Experts have recently predicted that as the country has already passed the months of June, July and August, the prime period for flood, the chances of major flooding are over. Many people have thus come to ask as to why the government has decided to go for the largest ever VGF programme coverage for distributing 1,50,000 tonnes of rice among 4.5 million beneficiaries, covering 1,000 in each of over 4,500 unions throughout the country. It has been pointed out that the upcoming VGF-programme coverage will surpass the previous record-high VGF coverage of 4 million beneficiaries, implemented after the devastating 1998 deluge. The government may argue that the intervention in the market through the programme will help stabilise the rice price. But many people feel that the programme has been designed to serve more the political interest of the ruling alliance than to stabilise the price of rice.

The government motive for implementing the largest ever VGF programme in a non-disaster year across the country is to draw the sympathy and support of the VGF beneficiaries in the next general election which is knocking at the door. The Daily Star in its editorial of August 30 writes: "But that which the government is trying to head off might creep in if theVGF programme, on a scale that is being envisaged, is not steered clear of any partisan consideration, which is perhaps raring to influence the enlisting of VGF beneficiaries. Since the country is not in the grip of a major disaster, or an economic emergency, the government decision could be interpreted as an overdose of intervention in the market."

Let me now address the second question. VGF is purely a relief programme. In a disaster-free year, the beneficiaries of the VGF programme should be limited to the ultra-poor who do not have stable source of income. The government may embark upon some work-based food distribution programme throughout the country. For instance, the government may consider advancing operation of the food for work progamme (FFW) from the middle of October when the kartic monga starts. Monga, a near-famine situation, is a regular feature in the months of October and November in the northern districts mentioned earlier primarily due to seasonal unemployment of labourers. The seasonal unemployment of labourers results from restricted non-farming activities and lack of opportunities for engaging in self-employment during these months.

FFW, a very important channel of public food distribution system (PFDS), was introduced in 1974 with the immediate objectives to create job opportunities in rural areas and at the same time to ensure the supply and availability of adequate foodgrains in the areas where there was acute shortage of food. The idea was to pay wages to the workers in kind. The programme activities include, inter alia, road rehabilitation/ construction, digging of ponds and canals and construction of raised land platforms (flood shelter). The proper utilisation of the resources of this programme for the designated work, in particular for excavating the dead and/or dying rivulets, canals, ponds, haors, and beels, will save the rural areas from flooding, help water transportation during the rainy season and make water available for irrigation during the dry season. More importantly, this provides the able bodied poor persons an opportunity to earn their livelihood through work that instils in them a sense of self-respect.

Further, the government may actively consider introducing environment friendly work-based food distribution channels for the months of August and September. These programmes may include removing water-hyacinth from ponds, tanks, beels, etc in the rural areas, towns and cities, and any other programme that is environment friendly. The water bodies full of water-hyacinth become breeding grounds for mosquitoes during the rainy season. In the rural areas, water-hyacinth damages crops also. The programme may be implemented on food/cash for work basis. It may be mentioned that work-based food distribution programmes reduce to the maximum extent the chances of favour distribution.

Furthermore, the government may put its VGF programme input to strengthen the operation of the vulnerable groups development (VGD) programme, which is basically a donor-supported programme. The VGD-programme beneficiaries, constituting mainly women from landless households and women with irregular or no individual income, are given training in different activities to generate self-employment opportunities and make themselves self-reliant.

To conclude, taking into view that the current year is a non-disaster year, the government may wish to revise the size of the VGF programme. The programme should be primarily operated in the previously designated vulnerable areas. The beneficiaries should be selected without partisan consideration. Only the deserving persons should be enlisted as beneficiaries. The local administration must ensure it. In order to bring more poor people under the food-safety-net, the government should go for more work-based food distribution programmes.

M. Abdul Latif Mondal is a former Secretary to government.