Lok Sabha Question No. 851 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-04
Subject: Bharat Atta and Bharat Rice Scheme
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Rajesh Ranjan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 851 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4TH FEBRUARY, 2026

## BHARAT ATTA AND BHARAT RICE SCHEME

## f 851.  SHRI RAJESH RANJAN:

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

- (a): whether  the  Bharat  Atta and  Bharat  Rice  Schemes come under  the  administrative jurisdiction of the Department of  Food and Public  Distribution  (DoFPD);
- (b): if  so, whether any Department can unilaterally transfer or relinquish its  statutory and administrative responsibilities relating to allocation, distribution, monitoring and  grievance redressal to another Department;
- (c): if  not, the reasons for referring  the complaints regarding alleged diversion of wheat and rice by Kendriya Bhandar to DoFPD instead of examining and resolving them;
- (d): whether DoPT has taken any concrete action on such complaints and if  so, the details thereof; and
- (e): the proposed corrective steps taken by the Government to ensure that the complaints relating to  allocation, distribution and diversion of  subsidized foodgrains are dealt with  by DoFPD in accordance  with the Work Allocation  Rules?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

(SHRIM ATI  NIMUBEN JAYANTIBHAI  BAMBHANIYA)

- (a): Department of  Food and Public Distribution  (DFPD) launched Bharat Atta and Bharat Rice with the objective to provide atta (wheat flour)  and rice at affordable rates to general consumers through sale by cooperative organizations.  The areas of responsibility  of DFPD in regard to Bharat Atta and Bharat Rice are allocation of  quantities of  wheat and rice to these organizations, issue of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Maximum  Retail  Price (MRP)  for  sale of  these products. The  retail sale of Bharat Atta and Bharat rice is operationalized by central cooperative organizations, National  Agricultural  Cooperative Marketing  Federation of  India  Ltd.(NAFED), National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Limited  (NCCF) and Kendriya Bhandar under the  administrative jurisdiction of Department of  Agriculture  and Farmers Welfare, Department of Consumer Affairs  and Department of Personnel & Training,  respectively.

(b) and  (c): As the internal logistics and  process improvements of central cooperative organizations fall  within  the purview  of  the respective administrative Ministries/Departments, the Departments have been requested to  review  and monitor  the Track-and-Trace mechanism put in place by these organisations for supply ofBharat  brand products.  The Departments have also been asked to  undertake periodic  review  of  supply  chain  management of retail  sales of  Bharat Atta  and Bharat Rice.

(d) and (e): The complaints received in  D/o  Personnel and Training related to the scheme of Bharat Atta and Bharat Rice were examined based on the inputs received from  Kendriya Bhandar and were also forwarded to the Vigilance  Wing, headed by the Chief Vigilance  Officer of Kendriya Bhandar for necessary action. Kendriya Bhandar has informed that multiple  layers of audit viz. statutory audit,  concurrent audit and internal  audit conducted by various agencies have not found any kind of irregularity  in the implementation of the schemes by Kendriya Bhandar.

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