No vaccination, no rations: Madhya Pradesh ‘boosts’ vaccination campaign?
The Madhya Pradesh government decides to provide ration to beneficiaries only if they have been inoculated with both doses of the COVID 19 vaccine. Food rights experts believe this is denying the poor their rights. The order will be implemented in the new year.
In Madhya Pradesh, over 49 million people are dependent on the government monthly rations. Photo: Gaon Connection
Beneficiaries in Madhya Pradesh will not be allowed to avail their monthly rations if they have not taken both doses of the COVID19 vaccine. In a COVID19 review meeting on November 17, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, made an announcement to that effect.
An order by the Food and Civil Supplies Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh dated November 8, has also been issued in this regard. The order signed by Principal Secretary Faiz Ahmed Kidwai stated that the PDS shopkeepers should ensure the vaccination of all eligible members of 11.5 million families in the state.
“People should take their second doses by December end. It is for their safety only that they should get it vaccinated as soon as possible,” Kidwai told Gaon Connection.
This has led to outrage among food rights experts who say such an initiative will deprive beneficiaries of their right to food.
“To stop them from availing their rights is wrong. To get vaccinated or not is their decision. Food security is their right,” Bhopal-based Anjali Acharya, lead member of Right to Food Campaign, Madhya Pradesh, told Gaon Connection.
In Madhya Pradesh, over 49 million people are dependent on the government monthly rations.
‘Will extend deadline if necessary’
As per the Principal Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies Department, the order would be implemented after December 31 this year.
“Even if someone gets the first dose now, they have enough time to take the second dose,” said Kidwai. It is to be noted that the gap between the first and second dose is 12 weeks for Covishield, four weeks for Covaxin, and three weeks for Sputnik V.
“We will look into the matter if there’s a delay. If there is a sizable number then we may extend it [the deadline] for another month or two,” assured the official of the Food and Civil Supplies Department.
“To protect people from the virus is our only purpose. We do not want to deprive anyone of rights,” said Kidwai.
According to the Department of Food Civil Supplies and Consumer protection, there are more than 22,000 fair price shops in Madhya Pradesh. Of these, 18,000 are in rural areas. The fair shop workers have been given the responsibility of collecting data on unvaccinated beneficiaries.
According to the order, the names of eligible beneficiaries are mentioned in patrata parchi (slip). The fair shop owner should collect information from those who come to take rations from the shop about their vaccination status. If they have not, they should be made aware of the vaccination and directed to the nearest hospital for vaccination.
The order also said that a list with the names, address and mobile number of those who are unvaccinated should be prepared. The copy of this list should be published on a weekly basis at the nearest hospital. Beneficiaries should be made aware that in order to get rations, they will need to take both the doses.
Why was this initiative needed?
“The problem is that many people are not taking the second dose. There is a complacency in our country. Now that cases are decreasing, people are losing fear [of coronavirus],” said Kidwai.
“It is a risk for them and for the shopkeepers also. There were many deaths of shop owners amid the first and second wave. They have to deal with so many people on a daily basis. They are very low paid employees [earning upto Rs 6,000 a month]. I think that responsibility should be shown by everybody,” Kidwai added.
However, the food right experts believe there are ground challenges for villagers. “Earlier, there was vaccination hesitancy among villagers. But now they themselves are coming forward to be vaccinated. Besides, there are side-effects post-vaccination. If there is no one to look after such people, how will they manage?” asked the food rights expert.
“In villages, doctors are also not easily available. If there are misconceptions about vaccination then those should be cleared, instead of issuing such orders,” said Acharya.
The Madhya Pradesh government, like the central government, has set a target of 100 per cent COVID19 vaccination by December 31. More than 28.7 million people of the 54 million eligible population in the state have received both doses. The remaining 25.3 million people will have to be vaccinated in 41 days. In other words, the state will have to administer more than 600,000 doses per day to achieve this target.
What beneficiaries at the receiving end have to say
“The government is completing its target by any means. To tell people that they will not get rations is filling them with fear. This is wrong. There were people who died after taking the first dose. People still fear getting vaccinated,” Satendra Singh Shikarwar, a PDS beneficiary and a resident of Hatipura village in Morena district, told Gaon Connection. His family gets 40 kilos of wheat, 10 kgs of rice, kerosene, and salt every month.
As part of the scheme under National Food Security Act, 2013, each beneficiary is entitled to five kilos of food grain per month, at Re 1/kg for wheat and rice, Re 1/kg for salt, and Rs 13.50/Kg for sugar and Rs 16/litre for Kerosene.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, beneficiaries are entitled to five kilos of additional free food grains till November, this year. In all, each beneficiary is entitled to 10 kg of food grains per month till November.
Also Read: 5 kg free ration a month to over 800 million beneficiaries extended till November 2021
Boosting vaccination
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Health Services, Madhya Pradesh stated that the state is moving ‘fast’ in vaccination. “Half the population has received both doses of the vaccine,” read the tweet dated November 18.
On November 8, when the order was issued a total of 395,365 second doses were administered. Since then, on 19 November, 361,771 second doses were administered. The highest spike was observed on November 17, when 1,620,939 second doses were given as part of state’s mega vaccination campaign.
“To complete the target, health workers are falsely showing that we have been vaccinated. My uncle Chandra Prakash Shikarwar received the first dose only, not the second dose but he received a message saying he received both. My village is vaccinated on paper,” added Shikarwar, who was issued a certificate for full vaccination but has not received even the first dose.
The villagers’ allegations have raised questions on the state’s efforts to protect people against the deadly virus.