Governance Algorithm

“Be the change you want to see in the world”, this quote of Mahatma Gandhi in my view is not just applicable to individuals but to government as well. Before government burdened by the philosophy of ’Welfare State’ seeks to inflict any change in the lives of the countrymen, it needs to first repair itself. Reputes of governments both at centre and in states have touched nadir in recent times thanks to innumerable scams and scandals. The million dollar question is whether the self-preserving governments can ever introspect and fall in line with the tide of time. Governments are like quasi closed control systems in which feedback mechanisms are leaky which brakes the process of self-correction. That’s the reason why changes are slow to come by in governments. In fact the words ‘Government’ and ‘Change’ have been oxymoron since the advent of political science resulting in social revolutions time and again around the world and consequent establishment of new set of systems uprooting outdated age old decaying yet stubborn systems. Jasmine revolution in Arab world, Anna Hazare movement and rise of Aam Adami Party (AAP) in India in recent times are response to similar inactivity shown by the governments over last many decades. Being a civil servant, the question of snail pace of the delivery and dead slow changes in quality of governance does put me at unease. But being an optimist, I see this unease as a window of opportunity where I can contribute my bit in times to come. So when I was made district nodal officer for monitoring prices of fruits and vegetables in district Kangra, I sensed an amazing opportunity to experiment and contribute.

            District Kangra is the most populous district of Himachal Pradesh and “Sabzi Mandis” in the district are mostly fed by imports from adjoining Pathankot district of Punjab. Local produce is miniscule and is mostly sold out of Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) purview by small time vendors. Partially due to lack of monitoring or lack of systems in place and partially due to topography, retailors of fruits and vegetables had been charging unreasonable prices to the customers with profit margins as high as 150 to 200 % in certain fruits and vegetables. Retailors especially in slightly elevated areas of Dharamshala, Mcleodganj and Palampur had been making merry at the cost of helpless customers. I was asked to research and come up with a comprehensive system of monitoring prices within the legal ambit and as per the guidelines and notifications of government on the subject matter. After studying the systems being put in place in other districts like Mandi, Kullu and Chamba under Himachal Pradesh Hoarding and Profiteering Prevention Order, 1977, I gave a presentation to an audience comprising of Deputy Commissioner, ADC, ADM, all SDMs of the district, secretary APMC and secretary District Food Supply. It was very important to get SDMs and Secretary APMC and DFSC on board as they were to form the backbone of the entire exercise in future.

            Our first challenge was to fix the maximum and minimum retail prices of each fruit and vegetable every day before 10:30 AM and put this information in the public domain accessible by customers before they hit the market for purchases. Information regarding Maximum and Minimum Retail Prices would give a fair idea to customers about the range of prevailing prices for the day for an item and also some sort of bargaining power. When produce is auctioned in APMC mandis, the seller of produce is issued R-forms stating the rate and quantity of fruit or vegetable by the commission agents. Three R-forms are generated, one is handed over to producer, second to APMC and third lies with the commission agent. When the commission agents further sale this produce to retailors they issue Q-form stating the price, quantity and commission to retailors. Again three copies of Q-form are generated, one is given to retailor, second to APMC and the third one is retained by commission agents. The prices mentioned for a particular item being supplied by producer and sold further to retailor by commission agent is same in both the R-form and Q-form. Only difference in Q-form is the commission charged by the agent which is mentioned separately. Given the multiplicity of producers and different quality standards of a single item being sold by different producers, a range of prices are obtained based on the R and Q-Forms.

            Suppose two farmers auction different qualities of potatoes in APMC Mandi. Let farmer F1 sells it to Commission Agent C1 at the Price INR 10/Kg after auctioning. So F1’s R-Form will mention INR 10 in price column. This produce is subsequently sold to let’s say retailor R1 by C1 at the same price plus the commission decided by government (In Himachal’s case 5%). So the Q-form generated will mention INR 10 in price column and INR 0.50 in commission column. This way prices in R and Q-forms are same.

            Now suppose farmer F2 sells better quality potatoes to Commission Agent C2 at price INR 12/Kg after auctioning. In this case F2’s R-form will mention INR 12 in price column. This when subsequently sold to retailor R2 by C2 will generate Q-form with price column quoting INR 12 and commission of INR 0.60. But what has happened due to these two transactions is that a wholesale price range of INR 10-12 has been obtained for potatoes which would further translate to a maximum and minimum range of prices for retailing purposes.

           

            The first step of filling up R and Q-forms were made mandatory for the Commission Agents and same had to be handed over to Secretary, APMC as soon as generated. Secretary, APMC would then prepare a list mentioning the lowest (X) and highest (Y) auction rates of each vegetable and fruit based on R-forms which are available with him latest by 8:30 AM daily after the auctioning is mostly over.

On X and Y a margin of 45 % is added for Maximum Retail Price on Perishable items.

A= X + 45% (X) aka Minimum Retail Price

B= Y + 45% (Y) aka Maximum Retail Price

For Non-Perishable items:

A= X + 30% (X) aka Minimum Retail Price

B= Y + 30% (Y) aka Maximum Retail Price

These profit margins take into account Commission Agents’ fee (5%), Market fees (1%) for Government, Misc. of 4% (Transportation charges, Packaging, Distribution, Display) and Wastage (10%) and profit margin of 25 % on Perishable and 10 % on Non-Perishable items. These various margins are as per the various notifications and guidelines issued by Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, Himachal Pradesh from time to time.

The prices A and B are being daily updated on the website (http://hpkangra.nic.in/pdf/fruitpricedshala.pdf) of the district Kangra for the information of consumers. Display boards mentioning these prices have been put up in conspicuous part of the markets by DFSC and daily prices A and B are being written on them for the benefit of the consumers. These notices boards have the phone numbers of ADM, DFSC, Secretary APMC and Police who can be contacted in case of violation. Consumers can also demand Q-forms from the retailor to cross check the prices while making purchases.

Retailers after adding 45% or 30% (Perishable/Non-Perishable) on the prices mentioned to them in Q-form have been asked to promptly display it in their shops in following format:

Shopkeeper Name and Phone Number
Date
Item	Price
1
2
..
n
Phone Numbers ADM/DFSC/Police	Signature of Shopkeeper

The public awareness was the most vital part of the campaign. They were informed through press releases by district administration in local newspapers. When we were placing the price boards in various part of the district where major retailing take place, it generated lot of interest in the public.

Random checks but on regular basis by SDMs, DCFCS&CA (i.e. DFSC) and Police officers above the rank of Sub-Inspectors was undertaken to keep check on the adherence levels by the Shopkeepers. A few examples of confiscations were published with the help of local newspapers to project the seriousness of administration in the matter. I personally as SDM, Dharamshala for a brief time went out on regular inspections and challaned many erring shopkeepers.

But the most challenging part was to get the various departments of government on board for success of the whole exercise. It involved commitment of APMC, District Food Supplies, Administration (SDMs) and the District Information officer (DIO). APMC gives the prices and DIO puts them on website daily before 10:30 AM. Food Inspectors and SDMs have been regularly monitoring and inspecting the retail markets. All Departments had their inertia to begin with and it took some time and patience to get the ball rolling.

            Next challenge was to get the commission agents generate R and Q-Forms and provide the same to APMC. The whole exercise would result in loss to them in terms of time and margin so they were reluctant to generate these forms to begin with and were coerced into it after the notification by the district administration as they stood to lose their licenses. Retailor Association was the most reluctant group in the whole episode. Retailors so far were charging exorbitant prices as per their whims and fancies. After their profit margins got fixed and maximum retail prices out in public domain they were ones to show the strongest reactions. Some of our Price boards in district were vandalised. But since these prices are available on the website of the district they could no longer prevent customers from demanding reasonable prices.

As long as I was spearheading the exercise, it was running smooth and fine. It brought relief to consumers at large. Soon I was assigned others roles as per my training requirement. The whole exercise lost its steam in my absence. Prices which were being daily updated on boards in markets were stopped. All that remained was the price update on district website. This brings me to an interesting conclusion. Anything automated in government using technology might still be sustainable and lasting but any manual procedure established may vaporise in absence of motivation and push factor. Downsizing of the government and induction of technology driven automation in governance delivery is the need of the hour. This will not only bring efficiency in delivery but also make it sustainable by getting rid of the lethargy in the system. This brings me to the opening remark again, “Be the change you want to see in the world”.