Lok Sabha Question No. 2258 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-29
Subject: Distribution of Foodgrains in the Northeast
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: NINONG ERING

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2258

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 29 TH  November, 2016

## DISTRIBUTION OF FOODGRAINS IN THE NORTHEAST

2258. SHRI NINONG ERING:

Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is providing adequate supply and necessary support to State/UTs for the distribution of foodgrains and other essential commodities including edible oils through Public Distribution System;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  quantum  of  the  said  commodities supplied  to  north-eastern  region  and  particularly  to  Arunachal  Pradesh during the last three years;
- (c) whether allocation of the said commodities to some States has been reduced  during  the  recent  years  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the reasons therefor;
- (d) whether requests have been received from some State for restoration of  quota/increased/additional  quota  of  PDS  items  and  if  so,  the  details thereof and the action taken by the Government thereon;
- (e) whether the Government proposes to provide the said commodities to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families free of cost, if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) whether  the  Government  is  aware  about  people  dying  due  to inaccessibility  of  food  in  Vijaynagar  area  of  Arunachal  Pradesh  which borders Myanmar, if so, the details thereof and the corrective action taken thereon?

## A N S W E R

MINISTER OF STATE FOR  CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

(a) & (b): Yes, Madam.

Foodgrains: Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) is operated under the  joint  responsibility  of  the  Central  and  the  State/UT  Governments. Central Government is responsible for procurement, allocation and transportation  of  foodgrains  upto  the  designated  depots  of  the  Food Corporation of India (FCI). The operational responsibilities for allocation of foodgrains  within  the  States/UTs,  distribution  of  foodgrains  to  eligible beneficiaries under TPDS  and  supervision over and monitoring and functioning of fair price shops etc. rest with the State/UT Governments.  In order  to  make  foodgrains  available  to  the  people  at  subsidized  rates, Government has enacted National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 under which foodgrains are to be provided to the States/UTs for distribution to the people @ 5kg per person per month under priority category and @ 35kg per  family  per  month  for  AAY  category  at  a  highly  subsidized  prices  of Re.1/-, Rs.2/and Rs.3/per kg for coarse  grains, wheat  and  rice respectively. The Government provides subsidy and assistance to States for computerization of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), construction  of  storage  capacity,  etc.  for  smooth  functioning  of  Public Distribution  System  (PDS). The  quantum  of  foodgrains  supplied  to

Northeast States during the last three years is placed at Annexure-I.

Sugar: The Central Government does not maintain the stocks of sugar in central pool for distribution through Public Distribution System (PDS). The Central  Government  has  decontrolled  the  sugar  sector  by  removing  the levy obligation on sugar mills from 2012-13 sugar seasons. Under the new dispensation of sugar distribution through PDS effective from June 2013, the  State  Governments/UTs  are  required  to  procure  it  from  the  open market through a transparent system and make it available at the retail issue price to the beneficiary. The Central Government is reimbursing fixed subsidy to the States/UTs @ Rs. 18.50 per Kg limited to the quantity based on their existing fixed quota based on the BPL families of the year 2001 Census and fixed from the year 2002. Two North East States viz. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh are not participating in the sugar subsidy scheme. The quantity of sugar distributed in the North East States during last three years is at Annexure-II.

Kerosene:  Ministry  of  Petroleum  &  Natural  Gas,  Government  of  India makes  Quarterly  Allocation  of  PDS  SKO  to  States/UTs  under  the  Public Distribution System (PDS) for the purpose of cooking and illumination only as provided under the SKO Control Order, 1993. Further distribution of the PDS  SKO  within  the  State/UT  through  their  PDS  network  to  ration  card holders is the responsibility of State/UT Government. The scale and criteria of PDS SKO distribution are also decided by the respective States/UTs. The allocation  of  PDS  Kerosene  during  the  last  three  years  is  placed  at

Annexure-III.

(c) & (d): There  has  been  no  reduction  in  the  normal  TPDS  foodgrain allocation to the States/UTs.  Under NFSA, it is already provided in the Act that  if  annual  allocation  of  foodgrains  to  any  State  is  less  than  their average annual offtake under normal TPDS for three years preceding the Act coming into force, the same shall be protected. All the 36 States/UTs have implemented NFSA and accordingly, the State/UT Governments are being allocated foodgrains as per their demand and the entitlement under NFSA.

`The  State  Government  of  Gujarat,  Kerala,  Telangana,  Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab had requested to increase the quota of sugar for  distribution  in  PDS.  The  request  of  the  State  Governments/UTs  for allocation  of  additional  quota  of  sugar  has  not  been  acceded  as  any increase in monthly or festival quota will have financial implication on the sanctioned budget on account of increased subsidy.

- (e): The  coverage  for  receiving  subsidies  of  foodgrains  under  National Food Security  Act,  2013,  has been  delinked  from  poverty  estimales  and there is no proposal to provide foodgrains free of cost under the act.
- (f): Government of India allocates foodgrains to all the States/UTs as per their  entitlement  under  NFSA,  2013.  The  States/UTs  are  responsible  to ensure the distribution and monitoring of foodgrains within their respective State/UT. No such incident of death due to hunger has been received from the State of Arunachal Pradesh.

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## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  &  (b)  OF  THE UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2258  DUE FOR ANSWER ON 29.11.2016 IN THE LOK SABHA

## Allocation of foodgrains to the Northeast States under TPDS/NFSA

(in tons)

|   S.No. | States            |   2014-15 |   2015-16 |   2016-17 |
|---------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|       1 | Arunachal Pradesh |    101556 |    101556 |     88992 |
|       2 | Assam             |   1890094 |   1811924 |   1686865 |
|       3 | Manipur           |    171379 |    170952 |    141559 |
|       4 | Meghalaya         |    188858 |    186484 |    176000 |
|       5 | Mizoram           |     70140 |     69774 |     65758 |
|       6 | Nagaland          |    126876 |    126876 |    126585 |
|       7 | Sikkim            |     44283 |     44292 |     44326 |
|       8 | Tripura           |    303249 |    284431 |    279009 |

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## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF THE UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2258  DUE FOR ANSWER ON 29.11.2016 IN THE LOK SABHA

## Statement showing State wise provisional quantity of sugar distributed in North East States from 1st June, 2013 .

## North East States

| 1   | Nagaland            | 9560   |   14276 |   14276 |
|-----|---------------------|--------|---------|---------|
| 2   | Manipur             | 0      |   21364 |   21364 |
| 3   | Tripura             | 10000  |   13000 |   28772 |
| 4   | Meghalaya           | 5112   |   15336 |   15336 |
| 5   | Mizoram             | 2060   |       0 |       0 |
| 6   | Arunachal Pradesh * |        |       0 |       0 |
| 7   | Assam *             |        |       0 |       0 |
|     | TOTAL               | 26732  |   63976 |   79748 |

* - Assam & Arunachal Pradesh is not participating in the sugar subsidy scheme.

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ANNEXURE-III ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF THE UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  2258    DUE  FOR  ANSWER  ON 29.11.2016 IN THE LOK SABHA

Allocation of kerosene to the Northeast States under TPDS/NFSA (in KL)

|   S.No. | States            |   2014-15 |   2015-16 |   2016-17 (upto 3rd quarter) |
|---------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|------------------------------|
|       1 | Arunachal Pradesh |     11460 |     10320 |                         7032 |
|       2 | Assam             |    327924 |    321372 |                       219048 |
|       3 | Manipur           |     24960 |     23388 |                        15960 |
|       4 | Meghalaya         |     25944 |     25428 |                        17328 |
|       5 | Mizoram           |      7416 |      6672 |                         4548 |
|       6 | Nagaland          |     17088 |     16752 |                        11424 |
|       7 | Sikkim            |      6348 |      5712 |                         3468 |
|       8 | Tripura           |     39180 |     38400 |                        26172 |

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