As one travels through the rural areas of Palamu, Chatra, Khunti and Ranchi, which are among the country’s 150 poorest districts, it is difficult to miss the intense conversations at various places with repeated mention of the word “delete”. Though not all those engaged in the conversations understand the meaning of the English word, it has over the past few years become synonymous with hunger and starvation in these parts of Jharkhand.
Anar Devi of Sarhua village in Ramgarh block of Palamu district, heard this word for the first time in December 2015, at the local fair price shop she visits every month for procuring foodgrains provided under the public distribution system (PDS). Categorised as the poorest of the poor, Anar Devi and her family of seven have been receiving foodgrains at highly subsidised rates for as long as she can remember. It has been a major source of sustenance until that day in December 2015, when she visited the PDS centre for adding extra pages to the ration card. “The centre in-charge told me that my name has been ‘deleted’ from the beneficiaries list without giving a reason,” Anar Devi tells Down To Earth (DTE).
Since Anar Devi has been listed as the head of the family on the PDS beneficiaries list, deletion of her name dropped her entire family off the PDS list. “My five sons have since
— source downtoearth.org.in | Raju Sajwan, Himanshu Nitnaware, Shagun | 05 Feb 2023