When the Fair Price Shop (PDS) in Bachabornahatti, a village in Gonuru Gram Panchayat, was shut down, it set off a chain of events. The closure, following reports of corruption and malpractice, only deepened the struggles of vulnerable residents, including daily wage workers, women, and elderly citizens.

For months, residents were forced to travel to the neighbouring village of Gonuru, spending entire days trying to access their monthly food rations, losing wages, and exhausting themselves in the process. What should have been a simple process of collecting essential supplies became an ordeal, disrupting livelihoods and household routines.

The Public Distribution System (PDS) plays a critical role in ensuring food security for millions of rural families across India. In villages like Bachabornahatti, in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district, where market access is limited and incomes from agriculture and daily labour are uncertain, the Fair Price Shop (PDS) is not just a welfare programme, but a lifeline. Through the PDS, eligible households, particularly those living below the poverty line (BPL), are entitled to receive subsidised food grains and essential commodities, allowing them to meet basic nutritional needs without falling deeper into debt or food insecurity.

However, irregularities and corruption are widespread in many PDS shops, particularly in rural areas where oversight is weak. This was the case in Bachabornahatti, where the shopkeeper’s malpractices, including reducing rations, demanding advance thumb impressions, and falsely claiming stock shortages, ultimately led to the shop’s closure after repeated community complaints.

Initially, individual complaints to the authorities brought no resolution. The turning point came when the community, with support from Anode, began to use structured platforms for collective dialogue and action through the Citizen Engagement Process (CEP) and Citizen Action Group (CAG) meetings facilitated by Anode. These platforms gave residents the space to discuss their shared challenges, raise collective demands, and pursue a coordinated course of action with the Gram Panchayat and the Food and Civil Supplies Department.

Building a collective voice

Over the course of five Citizen Engagement Process (CEP) meetings, Anode worked with residents, Ward Members, and Gram Panchayat Level Federation (GPLF) representatives to create a shared platform where community issues could be openly discussed and solutions collectively developed.

With Anode’s facilitation, the closure of the Fair Price Shop quickly emerged as a top priority. Residents shared how the shop’s closure had caused multiple hardships, from the loss of wages for daily labourers to the physical strain on elderly residents, especially with limited transport options between Bachabornahatti and Gonuru.

“We had to spend an entire day to get our ration,” said one resident, describing the impact of the long and unreliable process of collecting food grains.

With support from Anode, residents not only documented their grievances but also gained the confidence and skills to engage directly with the Gram Panchayat and the Food and Civil Supplies Department. Women from the GPLF took the lead in drafting a formal petition, while CAG members followed up by visiting the Food Department office in person to push for action.

This combination of formal petitions and direct advocacy, guided by Anode’s field coordinators, led to a field enquiry by Food Department officials. The enquiry confirmed the malpractice, resulting in a fine of ₹2.5 lakh on the shopkeeper and an official order to reopen the shop in Bachabornahatti.

A new beginning for Bachabornahatti

The reopening of the Fair Price Shop brought significant relief to the community. Residents no longer needed to travel to neighbouring villages or lose entire days of work just to collect their rations. For daily wage workers, this meant fewer disruptions to their incomes and greater financial stability, while for elderly residents, the physical burden of collecting rations was reduced.

“Earlier, we would lose two or three days just to collect rations. Now, we can finish the process within a day, and that’s making a big difference for families like mine,” said Gangamma, a Ward Member who was actively involved in the efforts to reopen the shop.

The reopening also improved the relationship between residents and their elected representatives. Regular dialogue through Anode-facilitated platforms helped build trust, ensuring that local leaders were more accessible and responsive to residents’ concerns.

“People now feel more comfortable approaching us with their problems. They know we will listen and work with them to find solutions,” said Anita Basavaraju, Ward Member.

Securing a new location for the shop was another challenge. Since the building that previously housed the Fair Price Shop had been surrendered, a new site had to be identified. With Anode’s facilitation, the community, GPLF members, and Ward Members worked together to identify a temporary space, allowing the shop to resume operations while a permanent arrangement is explored.

“The community stepped forward and found this space themselves. It shows how much we can achieve when we work together,” said Mallikarjuna, Ward Member.

The reopening of the shop went beyond simply restoring access to rations. It demonstrated the power of collective action and collaboration between residents and local governance structures.

“This experience showed us that when the community and the Gram Panchayat work together, we can solve problems faster and make sure services work for everyone,” said Krishnamurti, Ward Member.

Embedding accountability into the system

Although reopening the shop was an important milestone, Anode recognised the need to put lasting accountability measures in place. To prevent future malpractice, Anode introduced the concept of a PDS Monitoring Committee, responsible for tracking stock, conducting audits, and escalating grievances when needed.

Initially, residents were unfamiliar with the idea of such a committee, but Anode’s capacity building sessions helped them understand the importance of community oversight. During these sessions, residents discovered that a PDS Monitoring Committee had existed earlier but had become inactive over time.

With Anode’s facilitation, the community agreed to reconstitute the committee, selecting new members from the CAG after it was found that some of the earlier members had passed away. Anode provided hands-on training to the new committee members, equipping them with practical skills in record-keeping, monitoring stock registers, and filing formal complaints if irregularities were observed.

In addition to formal oversight, the Self-Help Groups (SHGs), which had loaned money to the shopkeeper to help pay the fine, introduced their own financial accountability measure. Rather than recovering the loan gradually, the SHGs required the shopkeeper to repay the entire amount upfront, ensuring that the shopkeeper remained financially accountable to the community from the outset.

By combining community oversight through the monitoring committee with financial accountability enforced by the SHGs, Bachabornahatti is creating a local culture of transparency in service delivery.

Through Anode’s ongoing support, Bachabornahatti is not only ensuring the Fair Price Shop runs transparently, but also using this model to explore citizen-led monitoring in other essential services like health and education.

A model for citizen-led governance

The story of Bachabornahatti’s Fair Price Shop is not just about regaining access to rations. It is a demonstration of how rural communities, when given the right platforms and processes, can work together to claim their entitlements, hold institutions accountable, and improve service delivery.

Today, the shop serves 336 households across Bachabornahatti and Sasalahatti, covering 352 ration cards. Every eligible family now receives their full entitlements on time and without unnecessary delays or travel.

“We now receive 5 kilograms of food grains per person and ₹170 per person per month under the BPL scheme,” said a resident, explaining how the shop’s functioning has improved after reopening.

For Anode, Bachabornahatti’s experience confirms the importance of creating accessible spaces for dialogue and decision-making, where residents and local representatives can work together to solve shared challenges.

“What we saw in Bachabornahatti and Sasalahatti confirms that people have the capacity to solve their own problems. They just need the right opportunity and space to come together,” said Madhusudan, Field Coordinator, Anode (Chitradurga). “With regular dialogue and sustained facilitation, it is possible to build strong, community-led platforms for solving local governance issues. This is a process Anode can replicate in many other villages.”

With Anode’s introduction of the Citizen Engagement Process, the residents of Bachabornahatti and Sasalahatti are strengthening their role in local governance, ensuring that their voices are heard and their rights respected. The trust between the Gram Panchayat and residents has been rebuilt, laying the foundation for more transparent and accountable local governance across sectors.