As the Centre prepares to enact the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to implement its promise of 25 kg of rice/wheat at Rs 3 per kg for the below poverty line (BPL) families,it will have to first grapple with the anomalies in the existing public distribution system. This became clear at a meeting between the state governments and the Centre,held by Food Secretary Alka Sirohi on Wednesday,where the identification of BPL beneficiaries became the main issue. One of the main points during the meeting was the question of who is a BPL person? It needs to be clearly defined so that a non-BPL in one state should not become a BPL in other state, said a state representative present at the meeting. The discrepancy in the number of beneficiaries is obvious as against 4.02 crore BPL households estimated by the Centre across the country,there are about 8.13 crore BPL card holders. The proposed scheme would also have to cater to about 2.5 crore Antyodaya Anna Yojana beneficiaries,taking the total number of card holders to about 11 crore. This,when the Food Ministry has currently pegged the number of beneficiaries under the proposed scheme at about 6.5 crore households. Though the state governments have been complaining against the Centres figures regarding BPL families,sources said many of the states appeared to accept the Centres figures based on a uniform and clearly defined definition of a BPL family,provided the Centre funds the entire cost of implementing the scheme,including logistics.
