It might have something to do with the UPA pushing the food security bill but after a long wait of over seven months the 15.40 lakh families covered under Punjab governments atta-dal scheme have finally started getting dal. However,the government has no plan to give these families the seven kg of dal that they did not get for seven months. Considering that the state spends almost Rs 8 crore per month on procuring dal,it has saved itself Rs 56 crore. SAD-BJPs populist atta-dal scheme had run into rough weather in December last year when Punsup,the nodal agency running the scheme,was left with no credit to keep buying dal. The atta,or rather the wheat,which is also part of the scheme is never in short supply as it is stored in the states own godowns and is a part of the state pool. The budget allocation for the atta-dal scheme is Rs 350 crore of which almost Rs 150 crore is spent on procuring atta and the rest is for buying dal from the open market. Punsup procures the dal through tendering at market rates. However,since the dal is given under this scheme to the beneficiary at a subsidised rate of Rs 20 per kg an average of Rs 20 per kg has to be paid by Punsup from its own pocket. This amount is then given by the state government to Punsup. However,the state government has not been able to pay Punsup on time and finally when the cash credit that Punsup had to keep buying dal finished no more dal was bought. It was only in June this year that Punsup received Rs 30 crore for purchase of dal which resulted in revival of dal supply which will continue till October. But the scheme is facing another resource crunch. After October,another Rs 40 crore will be needed to take the scheme through the financial year. Dal distribution is going on as planned since July this year and we have funds to procure dal till October. We have been assured that the next tranche of funds will be released and there will be no break in dal distribution, said P S Shergill,MD Punsup. Punjab gives wheat costing Rs 5 per kg at Rs 4 and 500 gm dal for Rs 10 to every member of the family that has a blue card. The amount that a family can get is a maximum of 25 kg wheat and 20 kg dal. Earlier,Markfed,Punjab Agro and Punjab State Warehousing Corporation were also involved in procuring atta and dal for the scheme. Till date the government owes Rs 1,550 crore to them. Punsup alone is owed Rs 1,000 crore.
