Adv. G. R. Anil is an Indian Politician, currently serving as the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs, Legal Metrology of Government of Kerala. He contested the Assembly polls for the first time in 2021 and won from Nedumangad Constituency by a margin of 23309 votes. He debuted in Politics through All India Student’s Federation (AISF), the student’s wing of CPI. He pursued higher education from M G College, University College and Law Academy Law College, Thiruvananthapuram. He was a councilor of the Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation and chairman of its Standing Council for Health and Education. He had been the district secretary of AISF, AIYF and All India Kisan Sabha, besides being a state-level office-bearer of these organisations. He also held the posts of director, Hantex and President of Handloom and Dairy cooperative societies. He had also held several positions, such as district and state office-bearer of several unions including All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC); director board member of Oushadhi; president, SIDCO Employees’ Association; and president, K. V. Surendranath (Asan) Trust etc.. He served as the Communist Party of India (CPI) Thiruvananthapuram district assistant secretary till 2014 and later held the office of CPI Thiruvananthapuram district secretary till 2021. He has been a member of CPI State Council for the last 12 years.
He is in a conversation with Arya V Nair, Editor, ljrfvoice.com.
Q. What is the happiest, most satisfying, and most challenging thing about you being a minister?
Answer: I started my life as an ordinary student worker, like many others. Later, I worked my way up through different levels of the Communist Party organization. Like a political activist, who else can touch the feelings of the hearts of the lowest strata of society? For me, the Ministership is just a natural continuation of my political activities. The happiest thing is that now I got into a position that gives me more opportunities to work for people. The greatest satisfaction is derived when one discharges one’s duties and obligations without being influenced by vested interests and without succumbing to administrative malpractices such as corruption, nepotism, and abuse of power. The fond memories of our former leaders like C. Achyuta Menon, M. N. Govindan Nair, T. V. Thomas, and E. Chandrasekaran Nair are with us as our guiding lights. But history will not necessarily regard one as a great ruler merely because he had an unblemished and content tenure. The existing administrative system is inadequate to deal with people’s problems in a timely manner. Due to this, people’s faith in the government may suddenly turn into dissatisfaction. The biggest challenge is to deal with this situation.
Q. Our state has become an inspiration to the entire country by achieving full literacy. Thus, how far are we from projecting a hunger-free Kerala before the country?
Answer: We are not at all far away. It’s well within our reach. The works done by progressive political institutions and governments have immensely contributed in achieving the objectives of social justice to greater extents in our state. There are many states that have made industrial and agricultural progress than Kerala. Why have we left them far behind in human resource development indicators? It is because we were able to eradicate inequality. The Supreme Court of India had pronounced a historic judgment on November 23 last year. The court directed the Government of India to set up community kitchens so that people would not starve to death. This is a model that Kerala has successfully implemented during the lockdown.
Union Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal convened meetings of state ministers twice to implement the Supreme Court verdict. The country is learning from us. It is the wide network of our local bodies and people’s groups that have helped us create this model. If this system works effectively, the goal you have pointed out can soon be achieved.
Q. Subhiksha Kerala, a part of the hunger-free Kerala scheme, has various advantages, including providing employment to women. What are its future development prospects?
Answer: Hunger-free Kerala is a big objective. Subhiksha Hotel project is one of the methods of its implementation. In Subhiksha hotels a meal would cost only Twenty rupees. This facility is available not only to the target groups including people who come to our cities and towns for daily work, patients, bystanders, and street dwellers but also to others. As part of the government’s second Hundred-day Program, at least a Subhiksha hotel would be opened in all the districts. A sum of Rs.1 crore has been earmarked in the budget for this purpose. As you mentioned, the scheme also creates avenues for providing employment to women.
Q. How effective is food fortification through the public distribution system and mid-day meal program? What are the schemes that have helped to eradicate malnutrition in babies? Hemoglobin deficiency remains an issue in adolescents. What are the ways to resolve this issue?
Answer: When we talk about food security, we generally relate it to the adequate availability of food grains. In a country where multitudes of people are subjected to starvation, the main priority will be to provide the bare minimum food to all. But whether adequate availability of nutrition is ensured from the prevalent eating habits is an issue that arises incidentally to this. The practice of fortification came up by addressing this issue. The brown rice which is generally used in Kerala does not require fortification. That is, fortification is not relevant to rice produced here, processed through a paddy procurement scheme, and distributed through the public distribution system. But it’s required for the rice supplied through FCI. Examining this issue a little deeper; what we require are measures to distribute enough food items to prevent malnutrition, which can be implemented on the basis of a scientific study on the malnourished population in our state. The government is thinking in this direction as well. It seems appropriate to include items like ragi in the diet.
Q. What steps are being taken to ensure the quality of food items available in hostels? In many private hostels, substandard food is being provided. Inmates are prevented from filing complaints against this. Being an issue affecting food safety, is there any law in place that can regulate the matter?
Answer: Food security and food security are two distinct subjects. They are handled by two different ministries of the government. Currently, under the provisions of the Food Safety Act, 2006, Food safety officers have the authority to take action against any establishment that supplies substandard food or adulterated food items. The department concerned functions under the Ministry of Health.
Another problem is that many establishments fail to provide adequate services for the money they collect towards charges. This issue comes under the consideration of the Department of Consumer Affairs, which is under my administration. The said issue in Hostels will also fall within its ambit. The government is considering the feasibility of fixing a maximum price cap on goods and services rendered by hotels, hostels, and other outlets based on quality by enacting the law.
Q. How will the e-card benefit the weaker sections of the society like scheduled tribes though it is helpful for the tech-savvy sections? How can we overcome this problem?
Answer: In fact, it is the other way round. A lot of options are available for the tech-savvy section of the population to make financial and non-financial digital transactions. In fact, they actually don’t need an e-card. The e-card aims at providing a platform to the rural population who are yet to reach high levels of sophistication, for digitally accessing government services and making small payment transactions including utility services.
Q. What are the preparations made to deal with the issues of food safety and food security during the pandemic?
Answer: In my opinion, the biggest problem we face on this issue is the lack of scientific warehouses. With the implementation of the Food Security Act in Kerala in 2016, it become the statutory responsibility of the state government to release food grains from the godowns of the Food Corporation of India and distribute them through ration shops by doorstep delivery. But, there was not an adequate number of godowns available in the state to implement it. This process was being carried out with the minimum facilities available. It is proposed to construct storage facilities meeting modern standards in all taluks during the 2022-27 plan years so that food grains can be properly stacked and distributed, and protected from moisture and pests. The site has been identified in 21 taluks. Construction can be started in those sites under the government’s second Hundred-day Program which starts on February 10. As a consumer State, storage facilities are of paramount importance to us. Opening scientific warehouses in all taluks is a major step for attaining food security.
Q. Though the practice of obtaining fingerprints for providing ration was effective in curbing malpractices, it adversely affected the elderly people living alone. Are there any alternative arrangements available to help them?
Answer: There are alternative arrangements to address this issue. Such people are currently allowed to delegate another cardholder as a proxy to buy ration goods for them.
Q. What are the steps taken to control the rise of price for essential commodities?
Answer: The previous government and this government as well are taking very strong steps to curb the rise in the price of essential commodities. Apart from the statutory ration system, strong market intervention is being made by Kerala Civil Supplies Corporation. This market system operates through Maveli Stores, an intellectual creation of former Food and Public Distribution Minister Shri. E. Chandrasekaran Nair. More than 1,600 outlets of Supplyco are functioning in the state. It was one of the promises in the 2016 LDF Election Manifesto that inflation would be held at the then-existing rates and the government has honored the promise. The government continues to honor its promise. The price of 13 essential commodities continues to this day at the same rates as it was sold in April 2016. Those commodities are Jaya Rice, Kuruva Rice, Matta Rice, Raw Rice, sugar, Bengal Gram, Toordhal, Green Gram, Lobia, Chilli, Coriander, Black gram, and coconut oil. Needless to say, most of the items in the list is daily used by Malayalees.
Q. How efficient is food supply chain management in Kerala? What are the challenges faced in this sector?
Answer: In my reply to the previous question, the construction of scientific warehouses was explained. In addition, we need to equip our ration shops too. The storage capacity of ration shops needs to be increased. In order to facilitate this, the government is considering making loans available on the strength of government guarantees. Another important issue is the constant labor disputes in connection with warehouse activities. To arrive at a permanent solution to this, the Minister of Labour and myself held a high-level meeting with the officials of the Labour Department, Supplyco, and the Head Load Workers Welfare Board. Further steps are in progress.
Q. What all things do you want to implement during your term as a minister?
Answer: A lot of issues are mentioned in my replies above; the modernization and equipment of ration shops, construction of scientific warehouses, distribution of e-cards, etc.. If we can conceive a working model that can collect the produce of farmers in our state and sell them through public distribution systems or Supplyco outlets, it will be seen as an intervention to save the producers and consumers from exploitation at the same time. Consumer Affairs is one of the departments under my governance. In Kerala, the administrative intervention in this area is minimal. Consumers are exploited in various ways. It is surprising to see such things happening in Kerala, which is the most educated and fully literate state. Legal backing is essential for intervening in this area.
The Kerala Essentials Articles Control Act, 1986, which gives the state government the authority to fix the prices of goods is in force. Central laws like The Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and Consumer Protection Act, 2019 are also in force throughout the country. It is a limitation that as per the Constitution of India, States laws can function on matters specified in the Concurrent List only in subordination with the central laws. However, the possibility of making Consumer Protection law in the state, which empowers the government to intervene in matters including excessive price charging, is being probed.
We have created the Kerala model, a unique model of governance in the world. But it is not everlasting. Therefore, you can rest assured that in order to preserve and revamp the model according to changes in circumstances, strong measures will be taken in the food-public distribution and legal metrology-consumer affairs sectors.
Honourable Minister Adv. G. R. Anil Sir assures us a ‘Zero Hunger Kerala,’ which is the current mission to set up another model for the nation. Minister has also said that modernization of the public distribution systems as well as ensuring the distribution of rations to marginalized sections in society were the need of the hour.
