The Hindu : Centre sets up task force on PDS foodgrains

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 20, 2002

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Centre sets up task force on PDS foodgrains

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi Oct. 19. The Centre has set up a task force comprising 50 officers from the Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies to keep a vigilant eye on complaints of starvation deaths, diversion or recycling of foodgrains meant for the Public Distribution System and the quality of foodgrains procured for the Central pool.

"The task force, headed by the Food Secretary, will monitor and supervise all issues relating to management of foodgrains and liaison with State Governments to ensure smooth functioning of the PDS and other programmes of the Ministry,'' the Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Sharad Yadav, told mediapersons on the completion of three years of the NDA Government at the Centre.

He said several welfare schemes were being run by the Centre whose progress the task force would monitor. It would also help resolve contentious issues with State Governments through interaction since the implementation of the PDS and other schemes was with the States. Recently, the Ministry had to deal with complaints of recycling of free rice distributed for drought relief in Andhra Pradesh and look into allegations of hunger deaths in Kalahandi.

New programmes for consumers through welfare councils were also being planned so that they were aware of their rights and were not duped by dubious product manufacturers, the Minister said. In its achievements, the Ministry looks at liquidation of food stocks and successes in wheat and rice exports as high. Although there is a surplus of about 320 lakh tonnes of food stocks, it is expected that foodgrains to the tune of about 130 lakh tonnes would be exported by March next year.

The total lifting of foodgrains is expected to touch 430 lakh tonnes this year as against 311 lakh tonnes last year.

The success of the Antodaya Scheme has prompted the Government to expand it further to include Below Poverty Line (BPL) households which lack purchasing power including women headed households, widows, households with terminally ill or physically handicapped members, primitive tribal households and old age pensioners.

The Ministry is interacting with the Finance Ministry and State Governments to identify such households and work out the financial burden on the exchequer. Since the launch of the Antodaya scheme, foodgrains worth Rs. 2,500 crores have been distributed to one crore poorest of the poor households.

Other progressive steps of the Ministry have been setting up a High-Level Committee on Foodgrains Policy, steps to decontrol sugar industry, setting up forward markets commission and removal of restrictions in movement of foodgrains and stocks under the Essential Commodities Act.

But reports of starvation deaths from parts of the country, burgeoning food stocks and a flip-flop on the PDS system, the high cost of foodgrains under PDS impacting offtake and first the exclusion and then the inclusion of the Above Povertyline Population from the PDS have been major drawbacks in the last three years.

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