If the poor in Bihar are protesting against their names being struck off the BPL list, depriving them of benefits under a host of poverty-alleviation schemes, among the Above Poverty Line (APL) families the anger against the new PDS system of coupons is equally palpable. It cuts by half their access to what’s among the most precious commodities in a perennially power-starved state: cheap kerosene.The fight for the oil is so intense that the all the mukhiyas (village heads) of the Naubatpur block of Patna district have refused to lift the PDS coupons and to distribute them, fearing an APL backlash. Under the earlier practice, each family, irrespective of whether APL or BPL, was entitled to 5 litres of kerosene oil every month. But the coupon scheme slashes the APL share to 2.5 litres, while the BPL families continue to get 5 litres. Moreover, only a limited number of coupons are being distributed right now to APL families for kerosene.For many families, the cut in quota translates into a huge dent in their monthly budgets. While PDS kerosene costs Rs 11-12 per litre, in the black market, it sells for three times more — Rs 30 to Rs 40 per litre. Realising the extent of the “outrage”, the state government recently announced that all APL families will be given oil through the PDS and that the process to ensure the same had been put in motion. However, APL families are demanding that their entitlement be brought back to original levels.“Four of my children are studying for exams. With the power situation so bad, I need to run four lanterns, and for that 2.5 litres per month is very little,” says an angry Anil Sharma of Chilaura village in Patna. He is convinced that the new system puts power in the hands of BPL families as “they need to burn just one lamp in their huts and will sell the rest of the oil in the black market”. “The government is promoting black-marketing,” he fumes.The mukhiya of Chailura panchayat, Sheela Devi, admits that they have refused to pick up the PDS coupons and distribute them. “The BDO is pleading with us. But all the mukhiyas have refused. While a large number of poor people here have been struck off the BPL list, so far they haven’t made provisions for kerosene oil for all the APL families. If we distribute the limited number of coupons, others will protest,” she says.Here an entire hamlet of landless Dalits has been struck off the BPL list. Rural Development Minister Baidyanath Prasad Mahto feels that behind the entire controversy is the fight for oil. “The feudal forces were accustomed to pilfering kerosene oil in the black market, depriving the poor. In villages they ran generators, pumping sets and other machines through this PDS oil. Finding that the new scheme will put a stop to it, they are fomenting trouble,” he told The Indian Express.Among those disgruntled are PDS dealers, who made a killing pilfering the subsidised oil and foodgrains and selling it in the open market. The coupon scheme plugs loopholes which led to such leakages. “There should be no discrimination over kerosene oil. Everyone needs it and the BPL and APL families should get equal quantity. Otherwise it will lead to unnecessary problems on the ground,” says the BJP MLA from Sasaram, Jawahar Prasad.
