Lok Sabha Question No. 1078 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-22
Subject: Complaints about Distribution of Foodgrain
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: SATYA PAL SINGH, BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB, SANJAY SHAMRAO DHOTRE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1078

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 ND  November, 2016

## COMPLAINTS ABOUT DISTRIBUTION OF FOODGRAIN

1078.

DR. SATYAPAL SINGH: SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB: SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE:

Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC

DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the complaints received by the Government regarding shortcomings  in  distribution  of  foodgrains  to  beneficiaries  across  the country during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UTwise;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  enquiry  into  the  said complaints during the said period, if so, the details and outcome thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether it is a fact that a number of people are suffering/dying from hunger on account of ineffective monitoring of the mechanism to ensure that the benefits of foodgrain based welfare schemes/programmes reach the  intended  beneficiaries across  the  country,  if  so,  the  details  thereof, State/UT-wise  and  the  reasons  therefor  along  with  the  response  of  the Government thereto; and
- (d) the other corrective steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard?

## A N S W E R

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

- (a) & (b): A  statement  indicating  State-wise  number  of  complaints  on Targeted Public Distribution System [TPDS]  received  from 2013 to 2016 (upto 10.10.2016) is at Annexure -I.

As and when shortcomings/complaints are received by the Government from individuals and organizations as well as through press reports, they are sent to State/UT Governments concerned for inquiry and appropriate action.

(c) & (d) : No State/UT Government has reported any incident of death due to starvation so far. To eradicate the problem of hunger/starvation and to provide food security to the vulnerable population National Food Security Act, [NFSA] 2013, has been implemented which envisages to cover upto 75%  of  the  rural  population  and  50%  of  the  urban  population.    Under NFSA, beneficiaries are identified under two categories namely:

- (i)
- Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) Households, and
- (ii) Priority Households

The  eligible  households  are  entitled  to  receive  foodgrains  (rice, wheat or coarsegrains or any combination thereof) under TPDS @ Rs 3/-, 2/-  &  Re  1/-  per  kg  respectively  with  entitlements of  priority  households being @ 5kgs per person per month and AAY families are entitled for  @ 35 kg per family per month.

Besides,  the  Government  has  been  providing  foodgrains  at  highly subsidized prices to the targeted population through State/UT Governments under Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) also such as Mid-Day Meal  Scheme,  Integrated  Child  development  Services  (ICDS)  Scheme, Rajiv  Gandhi  Scheme  for Empowerment of  Adolescent  Girls,  Annapurna Scheme etc.

Strengthening and streamlining of TPDS is a continuous endeavour. To improve  functioning  of  TPDS,  Government  has  been  regularly  issuing advisories  and  holding  meetings,  conferences,  etc.  wherein  State/UT Governments are requested for review of lists of beneficiaries, improving the  offtake  of  allocated  foodgrains,  ensuring  monitoring  of  end-to-end Internal of foodgrains at FPSs, greater transparency in functioning of TPDS, improved monitoring and vigilance at various levels, improving the viability of FPS

operations of TPDS through electronic platform, notifying Grievance Redressal Mechanism, ensuring timely availability operations, etc.

****

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  &  (b)  OF  THE UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1078 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 22.11.2016 IN THE LOK SABHA

## STATEMENT:   COMPLAINTS ON TPDS RECEIVED  IN THE DEPARTMENT FROM INDIVIDUALS, ORGANISATIONS & THROUGH MEDIA REPORTS ETC FROM 2013 TO 2016 (upto 10.10.2016)

| S. No.   | State/UT          | 2013   | 2014   | 2015   | 2016   |
|----------|-------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    | 3      | 4      | 8      | 3      |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh | -      | 1      | 1      | -      |
| 3        | Assam             | -      | 5      | 34     | 31     |
| 4        | Bihar             | 32     | 55     | 106    | 61     |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      | 3      | 3      | 6      | 9      |
| 6        | Delhi             | 37     | 78     | 113    | 79     |
| 7        | Goa               | -      | -      | -      | 1      |
| 8        | Gujarat           | 4      | 16     | 8      | 9      |
| 9        | Haryana           | 11     | 26     | 35     | 29     |
| 10       | Himachal Pradesh  | -      | -      | 4      | 3      |
| 11       | J&K               | -      | -      | 5      | 3      |
| 12       | Jharkhand         | 8      | 16     | 32     | 21     |
| 13       | Karnataka         | 6      | 6      | 16     | 18     |
| 14       | Kerala            | 1      | 1      | 16     | 16     |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh    | 17     | 7      | 17     | 15     |
| 16       | Maharashtra       | 20     | 25     | 48     | 49     |
| 17       | Manipur           | 2      | 1      | 6      | 3      |
| 18       | Meghalaya         | 1      | 2      | 7      | 9      |
| 19       | Mizoram           | -      | -      | -      | -      |
| 20       | Nagaland          | -      | 3      | -      | -      |
| 21       | Orissa            | 3      | 8      | 22     | 41     |
| 22       | Punjab            | 6      | 5      | 10     | 4      |
| 23       | Rajasthan         | 18     | 31     | 33     | 40     |
| 24       | Sikkim            | 0      | -      | -      | -      |
| 25       | Tamil Nadu        | 9      | 7      | 22     | 24     |
| 26       | Telangana         | -      | -      | 10     | -      |
| 27       | Tripura           | -      | -      | -      | 1      |
| 28       | Uttarakhand       | 2      | 8      | 24     | 18     |
| 29       | Uttar Pradesh     | 92     | 137    | 197    | 350    |
| 30       | West Bengal       | 7      | 11     | 32     | 23     |
| 31       | A&N Island        | -      | -      | -      | 1      |
| 32       | Chandigarh        | -      | 3      | 6      | 2      |
| 33       | D&NHaveli         | -      | 1      | -      | -      |
| 34       | Puducherry        | -      | -      | -      | -      |
| TOTAL    | TOTAL             | 282    | 460    | 818    | 863    |