 "States, Centre need to work together to implement food law: Thomas")
New Delhi: Food Minister KV Thomas today asked state governments to address three critical issues – identification of beneficiaries, creation of storage capacity and door-step delivery of foodgrains via PDS – for the successful implementation of the food security law.
Addressing the state food ministers meet here, he called for greater coordination and cooperation between the centre and state governments to implement the law in ’true spirit'.
The day-long meeting is discussing state governments’ concerns over the implementation of the new law. Food ministers from 20 states were present, while three BJP-ruled states Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh abstained.
[caption id=“attachment_1064767” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Food Minister KV Thomas. Image courtesy PIB[/caption]
“One of the most critical issues for successful implementation of the Act is identification of beneficiaries under the targeted public distribution system (TPDS). The next crucial issue is door step delivery of foodgrains and third is creation of scientific storage capacity at various levels,” Thomas said.
Stating that state governments play a crucial role in successful implementation of the law, he said the first thing they need to do is to evolve fair and transparent criteria to identify the beneficiaries correctly and take this opportunity to eliminate errors of inclusion and exclusion.
“Please bear in mind that lack of fairness and transparency may render the whole exercise of identification meaningless, besides leading to legal scrutiny,” Thomas said.
On door-step delivery of foodgrains, he reminded the state governments about the Supreme Court directions in this regard. He said steps should be taken to set up infrastructure for the door-step delivery and to prevent leakages and diversion of foodgrains.
Thomas said door-step delivery of foodgrains to PDS beneficiaries is also essential for ensuring viability of fair price shops (FPS). “With meager margins paid to FPS dealers, this additional responsibility eats into their already paltry income, giving rise to temptation for diversion.”
On the storage capacity, Thomas said more initiative needs to be taken by states to augment intermediate storage facilities. They should take advantage of the Private Entrepreneur Guarantee (PEG) scheme for construction of godowns through public-private investment.
He asked the state governments to focus on a ’time bound completion of storage capacities’ sanctioned in the state through constant monitoring and review. He also stressed that states should resolve issues that are slowing down the progress of the scheme in their states.
Participating in the discussions, Andhra Pradesh Food Minister Sridhar Basu said the state plans to roll out the scheme despite additional burden of Rs 3,000 crore per year.
Bihar and Uttar Pradesh also expressed similar view. Uttar Pradesh Food Minister Rajendra Chaudhary sought funds in advance for implementation of the law.
Tamil Nadu Food Minister R Kamraj said that the coverage of urban population at 50 per cent is “not adequate” as urban areas do not have local food production.
He further said that the time limit of one year for the identification of eligible households is not sufficient besides objecting to the provision of providing food security allowance when supply of foodgrains is not sufficient.
Kamraj sought amendment to the law to include allocation of rice at Rs 8.30 per kg to state governments for at least three years.
Similarly, Kerala Food Minister Anoop Jacob sought additional allocation of 2.57 lakh tonne of foodgrains at APL (above poverty line) rates during a transition period of three years to cover those families who are excluded from the law. Haryana Food Minister Mahendra Pratap Singh said the state has started implementing the law. However, its success depends on “timely and accurate margin given to ration shop
dealers”.
Punjab Food Minister Adaish Pratap Singh Kairon raised concern about diversion of cheaper PDS grain to the open market.
PTI
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