Lok Sabha Question No. 4416 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-30
Subject: Policy for Allocation under PDS
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Rahul Kaswan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4416

## To BE ANSWERED ON 30TH MARCH, 2022

## POLICY FOR ALLOCATION UNDER PDS

t4416. SHRI RAHUL KASWAN:

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has any policy governing allocation
- under the Public Distribution System (PDS) and if SO, the details thereof;
- (b) whether Rajasthan is entitled for allocation of various items under the Food Security Act and if SO, the details thereof along with the allocation during each of the last three years and the current year; item-wise;
- (c) whether there is any provision to increase the allocation to the States
- according to the increase in population; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof; State-wise including Rajasthan?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SADHVI NIRANJAN JyOTI)

- (a): The Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) is operated under the provisions of the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), which is implemented in all States/UTs and provides for a maximum of 81.35 Crore beneficiaries in the country to receive the monthly benefit ofsubsidized foodgrains through TPDS. Under NFSA inter-alia all operational aspects of TPDS, including the identification of eligible beneficiaries up to respective ceiling limits of NFSA, issuance of either Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) or Priority Household (PHH) category ration cards to them, and distribution of subsidized foodgrains to them through Fair are the responsibilities of the respective StatelUT Governments: Accordingly, the Department allocates foodgrains to StatesIUTs for distribution to their identified beneficiaries under NFSA at the scale of 35 per AAY household per month and 5 per PHH beneficiary per month at highly subsidized Central Issuc Prices (CIP) of Rs: 3, 2, and 1 per Kg for Wheat and Coarse grains respectivelyKg: Kg: Rice,

(b): Under NFSA, the Department allocates only foodgrains (Rice, Wheat and Coarse grains) to all States/UTs  including Rajasthan for distribution to NFSA beneficiaries through TPDS. As per the current coverage of State under NFSA, the State is entitled to 27.92 LMT of foodgrains per year, and as per the requirement of the State, the Department has allocated Wheat to the Government of Rajasthan during the last three yearsItem-wise details foodgrains allocated to Rajasthan during each of the last three years and the current year is as under :

| Year    |   Quantity of wheat allocated (in LMT) under NFSA |
|---------|---------------------------------------------------|
| 2018-19 |                                             27.92 |
| 2019-20 |                                             27.92 |
| 2020-21 |                                             27.88 |
| 2021-22 |                                             27.71 |

(c) & (d): Section 9 of the Act provides that the total number of persons to be covered in rural and urban areas of the State shall be calculated on the basis of the population estimates as per the Census of which the relevant  figures have been published: The allocation is made on the basis of beneficiaries identified by the States/UTs, up to their respective ceiling of beneficiaries determined under NFSA for each StatelUt. Therefore, at present, there is no provision under the Act for enhancement of allocation of foodgrains in accordance with the increase in population.

*****