The Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, C. Rangarajan, on Tuesday suggested that people Above the Poverty Line (APL) could be considered for the mandatory food security scheme by limiting the subsidised foodgrains entitlement of Below the Poverty line (BPL) beneficiaries to 30 kg per month per family (instead of 35 kg).
“An alternative is to give the BPL households 30 kg. and APL families 15 kg per month. This will in a way ensure that all households are assured of some minimum availability of foodgrains,'' Dr. Rangarajan said at the Conference of Food Secretaries on Reform of the Public Distribution System organised here by the Food Ministry.
If the APL families were included in the food security scheme, the total foodgrains requirement would be 50 million tonnes.
“This is feasible in the context of procurement in the recent years, which has been in the range of 55-59 million tonnes.” Allocation of foodgrains would be made at different costs.
However, it would be impossible to make supplies to all households at the present level of production and procurement. “Ultimately, the answer lies in increasing farm production and productivity.”
The UPA government had proposed to provide by law 25 kg of rice or wheat at Rs. 3 a kg per month to BPL families.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said, “If there are more poor than the number recognised by the Central government, then the States would have to bear the burden of providing them subsidised grain.”
At the present procurement levels, the expansion of BPL allocations would cut into the APL.
“The government is looking at how to fit that in the new system of food security.”
Move from “push” to “pull”
Unique Identification Authority of India Chairman Nandan Nilekani said the policy direction on UID (AADHAAR) was towards individual entitlement at about 5.5 kg per person per month.
He wanted the system to move from “push” (distribution of foodgrains based on allocations) to “pull” (system based on withdrawals as in Wal-mart, Reliance, Tesco, etc.).
This meant a PDS beneficiary could go to any ration shop and seek his entitlement through the smart card. If a shop remained closed or did not carry sufficient stocks, it would get lower quotas which would impact its commission. “For PDS cleaning up, AADHAAR can add value in changing the whole paradigm of supply chain.”
Earlier, Food Minister Sharad Pawar launched a pilot scheme on smart card-based delivery of essential commodities under the Targeted Public Distribution System in Haryana and Chandigarh.
He said one of the major challenges in implementing the proposed food security law would be procurement of foodgrains required to meet the obligations under it.
Union Minister of State K.V. Thomas and Food Secretary Alka Sirohi were present.
