Free ration scheme is not going to stop, the government has a lot of stock

The central government said on Saturday that it has enough food grains to meet the requirements of the Food Security Act and other welfare schemes. Along with this, the government is also regularly monitoring the prices of essential commodities. According to an official statement, the Government of India has sufficient food grains stock in the Central Pool to meet the requirements of the Food Security Act and its other welfare schemes as well as the additional allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).

wheat and rice stock more than fixed

According to this statement, till January 1, 2023, about 159 lakh tonnes of wheat and 104 lakh tonnes of rice will be available, which is much more than the buffer standards. Under the buffer norms, there was only a need to keep 138 lakh tonnes of wheat and 76 lakh tonnes of rice on January 1. Till December 15, about 180 lakh tonnes of wheat and 111 lakh tonnes of rice were available in the central food grain pool. The need for buffer norms has been assessed for the special requirements of the year on 1st April, 1st July, 1st October and 1st January.

The ministry said that the stock position of wheat and rice under the central pool has always been well above the buffer norms. About 227 lakh tonnes of wheat and 205 lakh tonnes of rice were available in the central pool as on October 1, 2022. While on October 1, only 205 lakh tonnes of wheat and 103 lakh tonnes of rice needed to be under the buffer norm.

Wheat procurement was low in the last season

However, the procurement of wheat in the previous season was reduced due to low production apart from farmers selling wheat in the open market at prices higher than the minimum support price (MSP), the ministry said. Despite this, sufficient stock of wheat will be available in the central pool to meet the country’s requirement till the next wheat crop arrives.

Further, to ensure adequate wheat stock in the central pool, the allocation made under PMGKAY along with NFSA has also been revised in favor of rice. Under PMGKAY, the central government provides five kilograms of food grains free of cost per month to about 80 crore people who come under the purview of NFSA.

The central government has increased the MSP of wheat crop to Rs 2,125 per quintal this year, from Rs 2,015 per quintal in the Rabi marketing season last year. Wheat procurement will start from April and according to initial estimates, there has been a significant increase in wheat sowing as compared to last year.

(with language input)