Due to the increased procurement of food grains and to reduce the storage under Cover and Plinth (CAP), the government formulated the Private Entrepreneurs’ Guarantee (PEG) Scheme for construction of storage godowns through private entrepreneurs, Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs). Under the scheme, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) would give a guarantee of 10 years for assured hiring to the private entrepreneurs, for which the storage charges would be paid. A capacity of 181.08 lakh tonnes is to be created in 19 states. This information was given by KV Thomas, minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution system, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The minister stated that all precautions were taken by FCI to preserve the quality of food grains stored with them. Prophylactic and curative measures are carried out regularly for the control of insects / pests. Effective rodent control measures are also undertaken. Regular quality checks are conducted to ensure proper preservation of food grains in storage. Adequate dunnage is provided for the food grain stock stored in CAP. The dunnage material is cleaned and disinfected. To protect the CAP stocks from rain, the sun, etc., each stack is covered with a polythene cover and tied with nylon ropes. Wheat stocks stored in CAP by the state governments/ agencies are subjected to joint inspection on a regular basis by officers of FCI and the concerned state governments/agencies. “Stocks are generally issued on the principle of “First in First Out” (FIFO),” he added.
Computerisation of PDS
Meanwhile, in another written reply, the minister informed that all states/Union territories (UTs) have been requested to undertake end-to-end computerisation of Public Distribution System (PDS).
This includes digitisation of ration cards and creation of beneficiary database, computerisation of supply chain management, fair price shop (FPS) automation, and setting up of transparency portal.
The minister added that under the guidelines issued by the department of food and public distribution, states/ UTs are encouraged to include PDS-related fields in the data collection exercise being undertaken by various UIDAI appointed registrars as part of the UID (Aadhaar) enrolment. As per these guidelines, as far as possible, state/UT governments should also link the process of electronic authentication of delivery and payments at the FPS level with Aadhaar registration. This would help in streamlining the process of biometric collection as well as authentication of beneficiary at the time of commodity issuance at FPS.
Additional allocation
In yet another reply, the minister informed that considering the surplus stocks of food grains in the Central pool and requests received from states/UTs for higher/additional allocation, the government has made an ad hoc additional allocation of 50 lakh tonnes of food grains to all the states/UTs in July 2012 for distribution to the additional BPL families at BPL prices upto March 2013. The estimated gross subsidy on account of the above additional allocation is Rs 8411.248 crore. Further, in pursuance of the directions of the Supreme Court and as per the recommendations of the committee headed by Justice (retired) D P Wadhwa, the government has made additional allocation of 17.66 lakh tonnes of food grains during the current year for the additional Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families in the poorest districts in states. The estimated additional subsidy on the above allocation is Rs 3042.244 crore.
The minister said that under Open Market Sales Scheme (Domestic), the government has also approved additional allocation of 30 lakh tonnes of wheat for tender sale to bulk consumers for the period July 2012 to March 2013. In addition, balance quantity from the wheat allocation of 15 lakh tonnes made for the period October 2011 to September 2012 has also been allowed to be sold to bulk consumers through tenders. Out of this, 26.02 lakh tonnes of wheat has been offered for sale in different states, so far.
