Lok Sabha Question No. 285 (STARRED), answered on 2023-08-09
Subject: National Food Security Act, 2013
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Kuldeep Rai Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.285

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 9TH AUGUST, 2023

## NATIONAL  FOOD SECURITY ACTI 2013

## +2858 DRn AMOL RAMSI NG KOLH E: SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA:

Will the Minister of CONSUMER  AFFAIRS, FOOD  AND  PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION ©nftHT wi+,  vr© Bit wWfqq f+vw ++ be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of food stocks in the country as of July, 2023;
- (b) the details  and salient  features of the  National Food Security Act (NFSA);
- (c) the  details of  assistance sought by  the States  of  Maharashtra, Andaman and Nicobar  Islands and Tamil Nadu and funds actually  provided by the  Government for  implementation of  NFSA;
- (d) whether full and effective implementation of the said Act is likely to help in checking price rise;
- (e) if  so,  the  steps being taken by  the  Government for  effective implementation of  the  Act  and checking the  price  rise  and black marketing;
- (f) whether  the Government also aims to amend NFSA 2013 and renew the prices given under Schedule I  as the subsidized prices were fixed for a period of three years from the date of commencement of the Act; and
- (9) if  so, whether the Government plans to  raise the subsidised food prices mentioned in the Schedule and if so, the details of amendments proposed along with the timeline of its implementation?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRYI CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION AND TEXTILES

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to  (g): A statement  is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (g)  OF  THE STARRED QUESTION NO. 285  DUE FOR ANSWER ON 09.08.2023  IN THE LOK SABHA.

- (a):  The stock  of  Rice and Wheat available in  Central Pool as  on Oln07..2023 is 253.49 Lakh Metric Tons (LMT) and 301.45 LMT respectively.
- (b): Salient features of the National Food Security Act, 2013 is attached herewith as An nexure nIa
- (c): As and when proposals/claims for expenditure incurred by the State Governments/UTs towards  intra-State movement, handling of foodgrains and margin paid to  fair  price shop dealers, are received from the States/UTs, the same are examined and admissible funds are released to States/UTs. Funds released  under the  Scheme of  Central  assistance for meeting expenditure incurred towards intra-State movement & handling of foodgrains and  Fair Price Shop (FPS) dealer's margin1 to  Maharashtra, Andaman& Nicobar Island and Tamil Nadu, since implementation of NFSA are Rs,.3094.95 crore, RsnO.22 crore and Rs,1229.20 crore respectively.

Government of India has also released subsidy of Rs. 2725.75 crores to Maharashtra and Rs.8685.95 crore to Tamil Nadu during the year of 2022-23. Andaman &  Nicobar Islands does not  procure foodgrains for Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and it  receives foodgrains from Food Corporation of India (FOI) under TPDS.

- (d)  &(e): The National Food Security Act,  2013 (NFSA) provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural  and upto 50% of the  urban population, at the all India level, for  receiving highly subsidized foodgrains, which at Census 2011 comes to 81B35 crore persons. The Act is being implemented in all the States/UTs. Out of maximum coverage limit,  around 80.24 crore beneficiaries have been covered under NFSA at  present for  receiving highly subsidized/free foodgrains. During 2023-241 around 595 LMT of foodgrains are  allocated  to States/UTs under  NFSA/ Other Welfare Schemes (OWS). In  addition to  this,  1118 LMT of  additional foodgrains were also alloeated free of cost to States/UTs under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for the period of 28 months i.e. from April, 2020 to  December, 2022, Further, Government is  providing free  of cost foodgrains to  NFSA  beneficiaries as  per  their entitlement under  PMGKAY w.e.f. lst  January, 2023,

Government takes various steps from  time to  time  to  augment domestic availability and  to  stabilize the  prices of  essential food commodities. These steps, inter-alia, include releases from the buffer to cool down prices, imposition of  stock  limits,  monitoring of  stocks declared by entities  to prevent hoarding as also requisite  changes in trade policy instruments like  rationalization of import duty, changes in import quota, restrictions  on exports  of the commodity ete.

In order to  manage the overall food security of the country and control the increasing prices of foodgrains the government amended the export policy of wheat from free to  prohibited category with  effect from 13th May 2022 for restricting  export of Indian Durum Wheat, and from 12th July, 2022 the export of atta (wheat) is subjected to the recommendation of Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on export of wheat.

In order to manage the overall food security and to prevent hoarding and unscrupulous speculation, the Government has issued stock  limits order on the Wheat applicable  to Traders/Wholesaler, Retailers, Big Chain Retailers and Processors for all  States and Union Territories  for  a period from 12th June, 2023 till  31 st March 2024n

The Government has also decided to offload Wheat in phases, wherein 15 LMT of Wheat will  be offloaded in the first  phase from central pool stock under Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) (OMSS (D)) 2023 to flour mills/private traders/bulk buyers/manufacturers  of  wheat products through enauction to control retail prices of wheat. OMSS operations are done after taking into account foodgrain stocks needed for buffer and requirements for NFSA and Other Welfare Schemes.

The export  of  broken  rice  has been banned and export  duty of 20a/, imposed on nonnBasmati rice except for parboiled rice with  effect from 9th September, 2022. The Government is  also  continuously disposing riee under the OMSS to augment availability in the market and control the prices. The export of White Rice has been prohibited from 20.07.2023.

In order to  ensure rightful targeting and transparent distribution of foodgrains under NFSA,  more than 5 lakh e-PoS  devices have  been installed at the Fair Price Shops(FPS) all over the country for transactions through Aadhar authentication.  Transaction details are also available in the public domain. Further, whenever e-PoS device is not available or not working at FPS, this  Department has advised all  States/UTs to distribute the subsidized/free foodgrains in the presence of Government official/Staff-

Whenever any complain of  black marketing is  received in  this Department the same is sent to  concerned State/UT for  taking  necessary inquiry in the matter and report the Action Taken Report (ATR) to this Department.

(f)&(g): As per Schedule-I of the National Food Security Act, 2013, eligible households shall  be  entitled  to  foodgrains under section 3  at  the subsidized price  not exceeding  rupees 3 per kg for  ricel  rupees 2 per kg for wheat and rupee 1 per kg for coarse grains for a period of three years from the date of  commencement of this Act i.e. July 51 2013  and thereafter, at such price, as may be fixed by the Central Government, from time to time, not exceeding,- (i) the minimum support price for wheat and coarse grains; and (ii) the derived minimum support price for  rice, as the case may be.

The matter was reviewed from time to time and keeping in view the interests of the vulnerable sections of the population, these prices were kept  unchanged  till  31=t December, 2022..

The Central Government, in order to remove the financial  burden of the poor beneficiaries and to ensure nationwide uniformity and effective implementation of  the Act, is  providing food grains free of  cost to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households and Priority  Households (PHH) beneficiaries under the  National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), for  a period of one year beginning from 1 st January 2023 through the PMGKAY.

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## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN  REPLY TO PARTS (b) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO.285  DUE FOR ANSWER ON 09.08.2023  IN THE  LOK SABHA.

## SALIENT FEATURES OF NFSA

- (i) Coverage and entitlement under Targeted  Public  Distribution  System (TPDS): Upto 75% of the rural population and 500/, of the urban population will  be covered under TPDS, with uniform entitlement of 5 kg per person per  month.  However,  since  Antyodaya Anna  Yojana  (AAY)  households constitute poorest of the poor, and are presently entitled  to  35 kg per household per month, entitlement of existing AAY households will  be protected at 35 kg per household per monthn
- (ii) State-wise coverage: Corresponding to the all India coverage of 75% and 50% in the rural and urban areas respectively, State-wise coverage will  be determined by the Central Government. State-wise coverage has been determined by  the  Planning Commission (now  NITI Ayog) on the basis of 2011-12 NSSO Household Consumption Expenditure Survey data,.
- (iii) Subsidized prices  under TPDS and their  revision: Foodgrains under the Act are being distributed to eligible beneficiaries free of cost w.e.f. 1 't January, 2023.
- (iv) Tide Over allocation: in  case, any State's foodgrains allocation, based on the prescribed coverage and entitlements under the Act,  is lower than their current  allocation, it  will  be protected upto the level of average offtake  during  2010-11 to  2012-13 under normal TPDS, at  prices to  be determined by the  Central Government. Existing prices for APL households i.e, Rs. 6.10 per kg for wheat and Rs 8n30 per kg for rice has been determined as issue prices for the additional allocation  to  protect the average offtake.
- (v) Identification of Households: Within the coverage under TPDS determined for  each State, the  work  of  identification of  eligible households is to  be done by States/UTs.

- (vi) Nutritional Support to  women and ehildren: Pregnant women and lactating  mothers and children in the age group of 6 months to 14 years will  be entitled to  meals as  per prescribed nutritional norms under Integrated Child Development Services (leDS) and  Mid-Day Meal  (MDM) schemes. Higher nutritional  norms have been prescribed for malnourished ehildren upto 6 years of age.
- (vii) Maternity Benefit: Pregnant women and lactating  mothers will  also be entitled to receive maternity benefit of not less than Rs.6,000 as per scheme to be formulated  by the Central Government.
- (viii)  Women Empowerment: Eldest woman of  the  household of  age 18 years or above will  be the  head of the household for the  purpose of issuing of ration cards,
- (ix) Grievanee Redressal Mechanism: Grievance redressal mechanism at the District  and State levels. States will  have the flexibility to  use the existing machinery or set up separate mechanism,
- (x) Cost of intra-State transportation  & handling of foodgrains and FPS Dealers' margin: Central Government will  provide assistance to States in meeting the expenditure incurred by them on transportation of foodgrains within  the  State,  its handling and  FPS dealers' margin as  per norms  devised for this  purpose.
- (xi) Transparency and Accountability: Provisions have been made for disclosure of records relating to  PDS, social audits and setting up of Vigilance Committees in order to ensure transparency and accountability.
- (xii) Food Security Allowance: Provision for food security allowance to entitled beneficiaries in  ease of  non-supply of  entitled foodgrains or meals.
- (xiii) Penalty: Provision for penalty on public servant or authority, to be imposed by the State  Food Commission, in case of failure  to  comply with the relief recommended by the District  Grievance Redressal Officer.

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