‘APL families not to be excluded from PDS’

The government on Friday said above poverty line families will not be excluded from the public distribution system after the implementation of the proposed National Food Security Act,allaying fears that the new legislation will limit the benefits only to the BPL households. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the government will follow an inclusive policy wherein both APL and BPL families will get food grains at cheaper rates. He said the ministry has sent a note to all state governments seeking their views on allocation of food grains to APL families. “We have only circulated a note to all the state governments seeking their views on this. We have not taken a final view on PDS allocation for APL families. Some states have sent in their views,while responses from the rest are awaited. We won’t exclude anybody,we will include all categories for allocating food grains through the PDS under the Act,” he told the Rajya Sabha.