The Left parties may talk against privatization of the social sector but in their bastion, West Bengal, 97.5% of the anganwadis are served by contractors, 97% of the fair prices shops are privately owned, and the nutrition and food schemes are in disarray. These are the findings of the SC commissioners on food after their advisers conducted a survey of the state.

The West Bengal report card looks dismal. About threefourths of the anganwadis do not have their own buildings, two-thirds do not have drinking water and four-fifths do not have toilets. About 40% of the children — 41.2 lakh of them — are yet to be covered by the Integrated Child Development Service scheme despite an apex court order to universalize the programme. The severely malnourished children also seem to be neglected in West Bengal. Only 41% of the malnourished children were provided extra provisions and just 24% of them were referred to the health centre.

The condition of the public distribution system to provide subsidized grains to the poor is in as bad a shape. The total number of ration cards issued in the state is more than the projected population of the state by three lakhs.

The report points out that there are a huge number of people who still complain about not getting the cards which implies that there are a large number of bogus cards leading to diversion of the subsidized grain. While the central government itself arbitrarily keeps the number of BPL beneficiaries low, the state government does worse by not providing for even the sanctioned quota.

The midday meal scheme seems to be failing in the state as well. Forty-three per cent of the upper primary students and 11% of the primary school students remained uncovered by the food scheme, which too is required to be universalized. Put together, more than 31 lakh students don’t get meals in schools. Only 20% of the upper primary school students get the mandated amount of nutrition and at the primary level 70% are able to get food for the stipulated 200 days in a year. The report also castigates West Bengal for neglecting other social assistance programmes as well.