Foodgrain: Less for all, APL families to pay more

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today increased the issue price, while bringing down the quantity, of wheat and rice given ...

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today increased the issue price, while bringing down the quantity, of wheat and rice given to families Above Poverty Line (APL) under the Targeted Public Distribution System. The quantity of foodgrains given to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families have also been brought down, although price has not been touched.

With these changes, the government expects to cut its food subsidy burden by Rs 4,524 crore.

Rice would cost APL families Rs 915 per quintal, as against the existing price of Rs 830. Wheat price has been increased from Rs 615 to Rs 705 per quintal. This means an increase by 85 paise/kg for rice and 95 paise/kg for wheat.

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The quantity of PDS rice and wheat for APL families has been brought down from 35 kg to 20 kg a month. The new issue price would entail a subsidy of 30 per cent. While the CCEA did not touch the prices of wheat and rice sold to BPL and Antyodaya households, it has brought down the quantity per month from 35 kg to 30 kg.

For Antyodaya households, wheat and rice prices remain Rs 2 per kg and Rs 3 kg respectively. For BPL families, the price for wheat and rice stay the same as before, 4.15 per kg and Rs 5.65 per kg respectively. Explaining the rationale for slashing the quantity, the government says given the other schemes that run parallel to the PDS, this quantity would meet the nutritional requirements of the poor families. It says ‘‘with BPL/Antyodaya households also getting the benefit of foodgrains under Rural Employment Programmes, the fixing of 30 kg per household per month (from the existing level of 35 kg per household per month) is considered adequate to meet the nutritional requirements of poor households.’’

The issue price of foodgrains for APL households was last fixed in July, 2001, and that for BPL and Antyodaya households have remained unchanged since July 2000.