Expenditure on PM-KISAN Yojana

Dec 26, 2019 | Business

As on 30-11-2019, around 7.6 crore farmers in the country have been granted benefit under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) Yojana’.

As on 30-11-2019 an amount of around Rs.36,000 crores has been disbursed under the Scheme. Since the Scheme is ongoing and beneficiaries are added on a continuous basis, it is not possible to give estimation of expenditure till 2022.

This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in Rajya Sabha today.

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Review of Food Policy

Dec 26, 2019 | Business

There is no proposal to review the country’s food policy. Government of India enacted National Food Security Act (NFSA) which came into force w.e.f. July, 2013. NFSA provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-thirds of the population of the country for receiving foodgrains @ Rs 1/2/3 per kg for nutri-cereals/wheat/rice respectively. Identification of beneficiaries under the Act is under two categories- households covered under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH), within the coverage determined for the State/UT. While Priority Households are entitled to receive 5 kg per person per month, AAY households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, continue to receive 35 Kg of foodgrains per household per month. At present, the Act is being implemented in all the States/UTs covering about 80 crore persons to get highly subsidized foodgrains. The coverage under the Act is substantially high to ensure that all the vulnerable and needy sections of the society get its benefit.

The Government of India makes additional allocation of foodgrains for natural calamities based on the request of State/UT Govt. As per the extant norms, in case of natural calamities, the allocation of foodgrains for 3 months of demand can be made to the States/UTs on the basis of the request received so that the relief measures are not affected.

The implementation of NFSA through the Public Distribution System (PDS) is a joint responsibility of the Central and State Governments/UT Administrations, and the State Governments/UT Administrations are responsible for the identification of beneficiaries under the NFSA. The scheme of End-to-End Computerization of the PDS has ensured rightful targeting of the beneficiaries all over the country. Further, Government of India has issued advisories to all States/UTs to identify and cover the weakest sections of the society under PDS and launch special drives to issue ration cards to them. Advisories have been issued to all State/UTs that no beneficiary/household shall be deleted from the list of eligible beneficiaries/households only on the grounds of not possessing Aadhaar and shall also not be denied subsidized foodgrains or cash transfer of food subsidy under NFSA due to non-availability of Aadhaar or failure of biometric authentication.

This information was given in a written reply by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food < Public Distribution, Shri. Danve Raosaheb Dadarao in Rajya Sabha today.

Import of Onions

Dec 26, 2019 | Business

Government has approved import/ procurement of upto 1.2 lakh tonnes of onions to check the ongoing price rise. MMTC has been directed to import upto 1 lakh tonne onions through global/ country-specific import tenders.

Details of onion as procured/ imported by Government in the last five years is given as follows:-

Year

Procurement (in 000 MT)

Import (in 000 MT)

2014-15

Nil

Nil

2015-16

8.52

1.987

2016-17

18.37

Nil

2017-18

5.03

Nil

2018-19

13.50

Nil

Onion are highly perishable commodity that is prone to weight and moisture loss, quality deterioration, sprouting, losses in grading and separation etc.

This information was given in a written reply by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food < Public Distribution, Shri. Danve Raosaheb Dadarao in Rajya Sabha today.

Reduction in Supply of Food Items to BPL Families

Dec 26, 2019 | Business

The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) has been adopted by all the States/UTs, which provides benefits of food subsidy under two categories- (i) Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and (ii) Priority households (PHH). There is no BPL category under NFSA. AAY Households are entitled to receive 35kg of foodgrains per household per month at the rate of Rs. 3/2/1 per kg for rice, wheat and coarse grains respectively and Priority Households are entitled to receive 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month at the same rate as above. Coverage under NFSA for receiving highly subsidized foodgrains has been delinked from poverty estimates. Hence, there is no separate BPL category under NFSA.

There was no reduction in the entitlement of foodgrains to beneficiaries under AAY and PHH category under NFSA during the last three years. There is no proposal under consideration to stop foodgrain items being currently provided under the provisions of National Food Security Act.

This information was given in a written reply by the Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food < Public Distribution, Shri. Danve Raosaheb Dadarao in Rajya Sabha today.