Phula, Shyama, Madhu, Rani ki mummy, Chintu ki mummy and other women of Motilal camp, a sprawling slum near Munirka were all there.

Having wrapped up their daily chores which included sending their kids off to school, and cooking breakfast for their husbands, they had gathered at a community centre run by Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), an NGO working in the field of right to information (RTI).

They had come to register their protest at Delhi government’s intended policy change where in cash would be provided instead of subsidised ration.

When I first heard about this experiment (the Delhi government is running a pilot project in Raghubir Nagar), I had wondered why a slew of NGOs were opposing it tooth and nail. After all, cash instead of ration, the supply of which depended on how venal or conscientious the ration shop owner was, only made sense.

The community meeting was an eye-opener.

As soon as the community mobiliser from SNS raised the issue, there was a holler of protest with majority of those gathered expressed outrage at the impending policy change.

“How can the government do such a thing without consulting us?” was the common refrain.

Asked why the opposition was so vehement, there came a volley of reasons.

“At least we get the ration at subsidised rate, however irregular or late it is. In case the cash is given, chances are my husband will snatch it away for his daily dose of liquor or I might spend it on other critical need. Moreover, the Rs 1,000 that the government will give us may not be sufficient, the way food prices are escalating,” said Kusum.   

As Kusum argued with deadpan seriousness, others nodded in agreement leaving me in no doubt that government's intended policy change, one that affects teeming millions, was based on some fudgy logic conjured by one bureaucrat or a couple of them without having put their ears to the ground.

The government’s argument is akin to saying the public hospitals are huge loss of resources with poor not getting the benefits and therefore let’s shut them down and give the needy some cash to fend for themselves. 

The solution therefore is to plug the loopholes in the public distribution system and certainly not scrap it.

At the same meeting I met several women who had used RTI and forced their ration shop owner to fall in line.

“Earlier the shop hardly opened and if the shop-owner deigned to open it whether we received our quota of ration or not depended on his whim and fancy,” said Kusum recalling the days before she filed an RTI application.

After she filed an RTI application enquiring about the functioning of the shop, her area ration shop not only opens on time, the allocated rations reach her and others in the area regularly.

So if one RTI application resulted in regular and timely flow of ration for Kusum it is certain the flaw is with the system and not the scheme.