Panaji (Goa) State’s one of the leading NGO Savera in their communication to Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has urged that the age old Public Distribution System which provided subsidized grains to the poor should not be discontinued.

NGO’s President Tara Kerkar has written letter to the Prime Minister. We bring to you the details of the letter:

“It is with great despair that I am writing this letter to you to bring to your notice the anti-poor and anti-farmer move of the State government to shut down the age-old system of providing food grains under Public Distribution System (PDS).

The decision of Goa government to shut down these shops providing subsidized food to the people belonging to lower strata of economical hierarchy will have far reaching consequences at micro level.

All these years, these shops dotting nook and corner of the State were providing much needed meal for the poor in the society, mostly who eke out their living on daily wages. The sudden decision to shut down these shops would be disastrous for them.

While consumer who used to buy the food grain from these shops is the last one in the chain, the closure of PDS will affect several others including those working on these outlets and poor farmers who used to sell their produce to the government.

There are thousands of people who are working in these outlets, and they are there for several years. Though they are paid much less by the shop owners, they have made their life from the salaries here.

The sudden closure of the shops will render them jobless and they cannot be employed anywhere else because their set of skills don’t match any work requirement. So they will have to sit back at home, penniless.

Similar would be the fate of farmers who used to market their produce to the government which was then pushed through these outlets to the people. There was assured buyers for the farmers who will now have to depend on the commission agents who are prying to victimize them.

The move smacks of anti-farmers sentiments of the government which had come to power with an assurance to bring in change in the lives of the most common people.

We as an NGO has been in touch with several people who are aghast with the decision of the government. The general questions that are being asked is: whether government will pay certain amount to people Below Poverty Line? Does person BPL can buy grains from the market for his survival considering the fact that the prices of commodities are sky rocketing?

We are addressing this communication to you with a great concern and hope that you will impress upon the state government not to take such draconian step which will affect the lives of people with hand to mouth existence.