Lok Sabha Question No. 147 (STARRED), answered on 2018-03-06
Subject: Supply of Essential Food Items
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: V. SATHYABAMA, PR. SENTHILNATHAN

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 147 TO BE ANSWERED ON 6 TH  MARCH, 2018

## SUPPLY OF ESSENTIAL FOOD ITEMS

- *147.   SHRIMATI V. SATHYA BAMA: SHRI PR. SENTHIL NATHAN:

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  Union  Government  is  currently  providing  sugar,  rice, wheat, pulses, edible oil and kerosene at subsidized prices to Tamil Nadu to extend the coverage to all priority households, if so, the details thereof and the details of supply provided monthly along with the subsidy provided per kg/unit of each of these essential items;
- (b) whether it is true that the said subsidy rates were fixed a long time back and have not been increased for a long time till date, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the Union Government is in receipt of any request from the State Government of Tamil Nadu to extend the coverage of subsidized sugar, rice and pulses to all priority households and to enhance the subsidy given on these essential food items, if so, the details thereof and the stand of the Union Government on these issues; and
- (d) the measures taken by the Union Government to increase the supply of  these  essential  food  items  to  Tamil  Nadu  and  also  the  subsidy  given thereon?

MINISTER OF  CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

A N S W E R (SHRI RAMVILAS PASWAN)

(a)

to (d): A Statement is laid on the table of the House.

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  of  STARRED QUESTION NO. 147 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 06.03.2018 IN THE LOK SABHA

(a) to (d): Coverage under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), for receiving  highly  subsidized  foodgrains  is  under  two  categories,  namely, households  covered  under  the  Antyodaya  Anna  Yojana  (AAY)  and  priority households.  Accordingly,  for  the  AAY  and  priority  households  identified  by the Government of Tamil Nadu, within the coverage determined for the State, monthly  193.22  thousand  tons  of  rice  and  8.89  thousand  tons  of  wheat  is being  allocated  for  eligible  households  at  Rs.3/2  per  kg  for  rice/wheat.  In addition, 99.77 thousand tons of rice and 4.59 thousand tons of wheat is also being allocated, @ Rs.8.30/6.10 per kg for rice/wheat, to Tamil Nadu as 'tide over'  allocation  to  protect  their  average  annual  offtake  under  erstwhile TPDS, as per provisions of NFSA.

The  difference  between  the  Economic  Cost  of  foodgrains  and  the subsidized  prices  under  NFSA  is  borne  by  the  Central  Government  as  food subsidy. With the increase of Minimum Support Price (MSP) of foodgrains and corresponding increase in the cost of procurement incidentals, the economic cost  of  foodgrains  gets  increased,  resulting  in  increase  in  per  unit  food subsidy also. At the current level of Economic Cost, the per unit subsidy for allocation  of  foodgrains  out  of  Central  pool  stocks  for  eligible  AAY  and priority  households, is Rs.29.94 per kg for rice and Rs.21.96 for wheat. For tide  over  allocation,  the  per  unit  subsidy  is  Rs.24.64  per  kg  for  rice  and Rs.17.86 per kg for wheat.

As  regards  pulses,  the  stock  available  in  the  buffer  is  being  utilized inter-alia for supply to States for distribution through their schemes. During 2016-17,  2587  MT  of  Tur  and  2623  MT  of  Uradwas  released  to  State Government of Tamil Nadu.

Allocation  of  kerosene  is  made  by  Government  of  India  to  various States/UTs,  including  Tamil  Nadu  for  cooking  and  lighting  purpose  on quarterly basis. Further distribution of PDS Kerosene within the States/UTs under PDS network to various categories of ration card holders/ consumers is made by the concerned States/UTs. Scale and criteria of distribution are also decided by respective States/UTs. Allocation of PDS Kerosene made to the State of Tamil Nadu is as under:

| Year    |   Quantity of Kerosene allocated (in kL) |   Average Subsidy (Rupee per litre) |
|---------|------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
| 2015-16 |                                   341724 |                               13.47 |
| 2016-17 |                                   307560 |                               11.39 |
| 2017-18 |                                   204528 |                                8.79 |

As regards sugar under PDS, the Government has reviewed the sugar subsidy  scheme  in  May  2017  and  has  decided  to  continue  it  only  for  AAY families across all States/UTs, as households under AAY are covered under NFSA and are already identified and there is no BPL category under NFSA. Under  the  scheme,Central  Government  reimburses  a  fixed  subsidy  of  Rs. 18.50 per kg @ 1 kg per month per AAY family to participating States/ UTs. The  States/UTs  are  also  allowed  either  to  absorb  the  additional  cost  on account of handling, transportation and dealer's commission or pass it on to the consumer by adding it to the Retail Issue Price (RIP) of Rs. 13.50 per kg under  PDS.  The  Government  of  Tamil  Nadu  is  participating  in  the  sugar subsidy scheme for AAY families. The annual quota of sugar of Tamilnadu for distribution in PDS for AAY families is 22375 MT.

The State Government of Tamil Nadu has represented to the Central Government in June and August, 2017 requesting to extend the coverage of subsidized  sugar to  all  priority  household;  enhance  the  sugar  subsidy  from Rs.  18.50  to  at  least  Rs.  28.50  per  kg  and  assist  the  state  Government  in protecting  the  current  scale  of  supply  of  sugar  under  Public  Distribution System  (PDS)  in  the  State.  The  request  of  the  State  Government  was  not acceded to as there is no BPL category under NFSA. Further, States/UTs are also  allowed  either  to  absorb  the  additional  cost  on  account  of  handling, transportation  and  dealer's  commission  or  pass  it  on  to  the  consumer  by adding it to the RIP of Rs.13.50 per kg PDS.

To ensure availability of sugar at reasonable price, duty free import of 5 lakh MT of raw sugar under Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) was allowed through ports of different zones including 3 lakh MT form South Zone ports. Further, with a view to supplement the availability of sugar mainly in Southern India including Tamil Nadu and to stabilize sugar prices, Government allowed an additional import of 3 lakh MT of raw sugar by sugar mills/ refineries under TRQ, at 25% import duty, exclusively through southern ports of the Country. Government  of  India  is  not  implementing  any  scheme,  at  present,  for distribution of edible oils at subsidized rates through PDS.

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