Maharashtra relief package – BOGO?
Maharashtra’s relief package for ration card holders amounts to a “Buy One Get One Free” (BOGO) offer. Those without wages ask, How do we buy?
The Maharashtra Government order for relief due to lockdown offers ration card holders 5kg rice per month for 3 months – April, May and June. However families must first buy their regular ration and only then get the free supplement. Those who find themselves struggling without income due to lockdown, if unable to pay for their regular share of rations, would then be unable to access the free rations announced by the government.
Maharashtra’s GO states that people must buy their regular supply of grain before availing the free grain provided by the relief package: “In the month of April May and June please ensure that the quota of grain supply for each month is distributed per the existing ration rule. There after the free rice shall be distributed to the identified people based on the rules of the circular attached along with. At the time of distribution of the free rice to the identified beneficiaries, it needs to be ensured that the beneficiary has picked up the previous ration appropriately and timely. Violation of the above notice will lead to disciplinary action.”
The plight of those without ration cards is even more dire, as they have no earnings to be able to buy in the open market, and no eligibility for rations under the relief package.
Organizations providing relief to people without ration cards are unable to get either the regular ration nor the free ration to distribute. AID partner Seema Kulkarni, who coordinates a network of organizations in rural Maharashtra has been receiving panic calls from field staff who are unable to help families access the government relief in order to survive the lockdown period. She explained the impact of the lockdown upon women, particularly singe women, and the obstacles they and faced in obtaining relief in an interview with Anika Aren of Swaraj Express TV News.
Full text of Maharashtra Government Order: 5 kg free ration
AID is supplying rations and essential supplies to thousands of people across India including daily wage worker and migrant working families in Mumbai and single-women headed households in rural Maharashtra.
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