Pune:
Every time a commuter in Pune or Mumbai or other major cities in Maharashtra takes a bus, 10 to 15 paise of the ticket fare is set aside for a fund to help feed malnourished children, an inspired scheme considering 66 children die of malnutrition in the state everyday.
The incompetence and carelessness that has punctured the scheme is exemplified by the fact that nobody knows exactly how much money has been collected over the last 16 years through what's called The Child Nutrition Surcharge. Officials say all they have is a guesstimate: hundreds of crores.
The Minister for Children and Women's Development, Varsha Gaikwad, said she was unaware that the fund existed at all. "I came to know about this now that they are taking the money for the child welfare development and they are spending it somewhere else....we will do the enquiry and take action against them."
Public transport officials acknowledge that about 200 crores of that money has yet to be transferred to the state treasury which would forward the funds to the Ministry for Child and Women Welfare.
While NGOs say the public has been cheated, public transport departments in cities like Mumbai and Pune say they are bleeding and cannot afford to pass on the money collected from commuters. They allege that the money has been used to maintain public buses and keep them on the road.
"All the transport undertakings are suffering huge loses. Therefore we cannot give the government the nutrition taxes we collect. Rs 50 crores are outstanding, if we had deposited the money the government would have given us 2.5 per cent commission but the transport bodies are not in a position to do away with the funds because of the huge losses" said Ravindra Pardesi, a spokesperson for the public transport company in Pune.
Since 1997, Pune has collected Rs 55 crores from bus passenger, but deposited only five crores to the fund. Mumbai owes 50 crores that was collected to help feed children. The amount from other cities could be much more.
"Taking taxes from our citizens and not doing anything is a very serious issue. If we are not sure about the life of a child, then how can we talk about children's development? This is absolutely a mockery, this also shows what the government's priorities are" said Jayashree Shidore, who heads an NGO in Pune that focuses on malnourishment among children.
Maharashtra is co-governed by Sharad Pawar's NCP and the Congress. But in many cities, the local corporation is run by opposition parties, who have not intervened to course-correct though transport bodies report to them.