Should The Central Government Consider Setting Up Pan-India Community Kitchens?

By: Akhil Pathak (Twitter: @akhilpathak86)

Right after imposing the first nationwide lockdown back in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of India announced free ration distribution (5 kg of food grains- wheat or rice) to provide food security to two-thirds of Indian nationals who are beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act. As per an announcement that the Central Government made in November last year, this initiative will continue till 31st March 2022.

By no means this measure provided an absolute or total relief to people who belong to the economically weaker sections of the society, whose livelihoods were battered by the pandemic. But, it will always be seen as a prudent, swift, timely and decisive emergency measure that the Central Government took to provide a 'small yet much needed help' to crores of Indians and assisted them in ensuring a dignified survival for themselves. 

Hoping that the COVID-19 pandemic would eventually wane away for good, let us touch upon a possible mechanism which could indeed prove to be an efficient 'add-on' to the existing Indian framework that offers food security. But before that, we should first have a basic understanding of the broader ration-distribution system which is currently functional in India!

India's Food Economy Management  

The Department of Food & Public Distribution, Government of India, undertakes the task of managing the food economy of the country through a Public Distribution System (PDS) which is jointly operated by the Central Government and State/UT Governments. The primary aim of the PDS is to distribute food grains (and certain supplementary commodities) at subsidised rates to people who come under multiple low income groups that the government defines.  

Food Corporation of India (FCI) is the organization through which the Central Government- procures, stores, transports and allocates-in-bulk, food grains to the State/UT Governments. The State/UT Governments thereafter, undertake the responsibilities of identifying the eligible families, issuing 'ration cards' and supervising the efficient functioning of ration distribution outlets that are called- 'Fair Price Shops' (FPSs). 

Through the FPSs, the State/UT Governments (in-general) distribute wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene but, there are certain States/UTs in India that apart from the usual commodities, also distribute pulses, iodised salt, spices and edible oils through the FPSs.

Image Source: deccanherald.com

Distributing ration at subsidised rates to families from weak economic background, is truly a noble & responsible duty that the Central Government along with various State/UT Governments, diligently fulfil. However, this current ration distribution system could be given a hybrid makeover which would add an entirely new as well as a more practical dimension to it.

Pan India Community Kitchens

While continuing with the current ration distribution system, the government should set up community kitchens all over India where hot cooked meals would be served at subsidised rates to eligible people "should they choose buying cooked meals instead of buying raw ration from the FPSs". The eligibility criteria for buying meals at the community kitchens should be the same as that of purchasing raw ration from the FPSs. It is just that people should have the flexibility to choose between purchasing "raw ration" from FPSs and buying "cooked meals" from the community kitchens which perhaps could have a limited arrangement of seated dining as well.

'Any and all' members of an eligible family should have the choice of choosing either subsidised raw ration or subsidised cooked meals. A person who chooses raw ration should not be allowed to avail the services of a community kitchen and similarly, a person who has opted for buying/having meals at a community kitchen must not receive any ration under his/her quota from a FPS. 

Proper segregation in the government records must take place and an efficient identification mechanism (preferably biometric identification) must be set up at the community kitchens, to ensure delivery of cooked food- only to the genuine beneficiaries.

Is This Really Possible?

For decades now, under the 'Midday Meal Scheme', crores of students nationwide from classes 1st to 8th across government schools and government-aided schools/educational centres, have been receiving hot cooked meals (without any cost, of course). Furthermore, with the Midday Meal Scheme now transformed into 'PM Poshan', additional 24 lakh children from the pre-primary classes that come under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program, will also be brought in.

This simply means that distributing cooked food is not something new, both for the Central Government as well as the State/UT Governments. The only fundamental difference would be setting up or building permanent kitchens/dining infrastructure in various localities nationwide where the concentration of ration card holders is significant enough.

It is important to know that the 'Amma Canteen' scheme launched by then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalitha in 2013, is an ongoing, expanding and vibrant success story that various states in India along with many global organisations admire. However, I must clarify that the Pan India Community Kitchens that I am proposing in this article, would serve food at subsidised rates only to those with valid ration cards whereas, Amma Canteens offer food at subsidised rates to everyone without any eligibility criteria. 

Nevertheless, as far as the fundamental concept of a community kitchen in its essence is concerned, we have flourishing examples in India that render enough motivation to proceed in this direction. 

In a rudimentary sense, a community kitchen would be basically- A more functional, elaborate, evolved and next-gen form of a FPS.

I am not saying that this would be an easy task for the governments (both central and state), but then again, considering the commendable past track record of our government machineries with respect to managing the nation's food economy or offering food assistance to a huge number of financially vulnerable masses despite various challenges along the way, setting up & successfully running/administering such a food distribution mechanism, is well within their reach.

I sincerely believe that if the government floats the idea of setting up of community kitchens all over the country in the public domain and invites suggestions to evaluate the viability of this mechanism, a number of well researched proposals from the corporate/private sector would certainly start to surface for a possible 'Partnered Delivery Program' with the government.

In the end, I would urge you to imagine the convenience of a person who rather than cooking meals for himself/herself or for the dependent member/s of the family from the raw ingredients purchased (at subsidised rates) from a FPS, simply walks into a community kitchen and buys (at subsidised rates)- "ready-to-eat hot cooked food"!

(Akhil Pathak is a Freelance Writer who is an observer of global politics & geo-strategic matters, with special focus on the security framework of India. He keeps a watchful eye on key developments that are related to health, defence and psychology. He also tracks concerning social issues that warrant immediate attention.)