Lok Sabha Question No. 2405 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-01-02
Subject: Expenditure on PDS
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: KAMLA DEVI PATLE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2405 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02 nd  JANUARY, 2018

## EXPENDITURE ON PDS

## 2405.   SHRIMATI KAMLA DEVI PAATLE:

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  amount  sanctioned  and  expenditure  incurred  under  the  Public Distribution System (PDS) during the last three years and the current year;
- (b) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  provide  special  assistance  to  States  having maximum number of BPL families and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c)      the details of the amount sanctioned for Chhattisgarh during the financial year 2017-18?

## A N S W E R

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

(a): States/Union Territories (UTs) are allocated food grains at subsidized rates under National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other Welfare Schemes.  Difference between  Economic  Cost and  Central  Issue  Price  (CIP)/ Minimum Support Price (MSP)  at  which  foodgrains  are issued  to  States/UTs  are  reimbursed  to  Food  Corporation  of  India  (FCI)  as  subsidy. However,  in  case  of  States  which  have  adopted  De-Centralized  Procurement  Scheme (DCP),    the  food    subsidy    is    directly    released    to    States  by  Government  of  India  for procurement of foodgrains to be distributed by them under NFSA and other Welfare Schemes. Besides, funds are also released under Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme (DBT) Cash to three Union  Territories (i.e. Chandigarh, Puducherry  and  Dadra  &  Nagar  Haveli). Year-wise consolidated subsidy released during the last three years and current year is as under:

| Year    |   Subsidy released (Rs. In crore) |
|---------|-----------------------------------|
| 2014-15 |                            113171 |
| 2015-16 |                            134919 |
| 2016-17 |                            130673 |
| 2017-18 |                            139019 |

Under TPDS, funds are also allocated for other activities such as Strengthening of PDS and Capacity Building (Strengthening of PDS Operations). Under the scheme, the details of fund released during last three years and current year is as under:

| Year    |   Funds released (Rs. In cr.) |
|---------|-------------------------------|
| 2014-15 |                         38.08 |
| 2015-16 |                         62.81 |
| 2016-17 |                         56.89 |
| 2017-18 |                          2.51 |

(b):  Under  the  National  Food  Security  Act,  2013,  (NFSA)  coverage  of  beneficiaries  for receiving  benefits  through  Public  Distribution  System  has  been  delinked  from  the  poverty estimates and therefore there is no BPL category under NFSA. The Act provides for coverage of  up  to  75%  of  the  rural  population  and  up  to  50%  of  the  urban  population  for  receiving foodgrains  (i.e.  rice,  wheat  &  coarse  grains)  at  highly  subsidized  rates  of  Rs.3/2/1  per  kg respectively. All the States/UTs have adopted NFSA under which eligible families comprise of Priority Households (PHH) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families which are entitled to receive 5kg per persons per month and 35 kg per family per month respectively.

- (c).      Food  subsidy  of  Rs.2969.55  crore  has  been  released  for  State  Government  of Chhattisgarh during financial year 2017-18.

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