Govt advisors strike caution on uniform BPL,APL benefits

Ahead of a meeting of Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council,which is slated to finalise its views regarding the proposed National Food Security Act....

Ahead of a meeting of Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC),which is slated to finalise its views regarding the proposed National Food Security Act on Wednesday,countrys top policy advisors on Tuesday expressed their reservations over uniform universal entitlements for BPL and APL households in the proposed legislation.

The government,meanwhile,has decided to provide cheap foodgrains to additional 1.5 crore BPL households from October 2 this year. This increase in BPL beneficiaries under the PDS has been necessitated after Tendulkar Committee report raised the BPL household figures from about 6.5 crore to over 8 crore.

We have asked state governments to gear themselves up to cover additional 1.5 crore eligible BPL beneficiaries,as per the recommendations of Tendulkar Committee report,from October 2, Agriculture and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sharad Pawar announced on Tuesday after the conclusion of a conference of state food secretaries here.

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Earlier in the day,Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said the state-wise poverty estimates would be released shortly to help states better plan their PDS operations this year.

However,with reference to the proposed legislation,Chairman of Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council C Rangarajan termed the demands for uniform universal entitlements as an impossible task. Ahluwalia suggested pragmatism to fit the entitlements for BPL and APL households into total grain availability with the government.

Those who are in favour of universal PDS feel that the distinction between BPL and APL at the margins is very thin and therefore we should cover all households. Despite the desirability of such an arrangement,it is an impossible task given the present level of production and procurement of foodgrains, Rangarajan said at the conference.

The issue that needs to be addressed is how to fit the entitlements into our (foodgrain) production….With new BPL figures that expand the eligible households from previous about 6.5 crore to about 8.2 crore,the BPL entitlements will cut into the requirement of foodgrains for APL. The PDS will have to be differentiated where the BPL households would be eligible for foodgrains at much lower prices, Ahluwalia said.

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The opinion which came on the eve of the NAC meeting is significant in view of the fact that even an Empowered Group of Ministers on Food Security had recently refrained from taking a view on the issue awaiting final opinion by the NAC.

Rotting foodgrains: Pawar to crack whip

NEW DELHI: In the wake of reports of food stocks lying in the open and getting damaged in rains,Sharad Pawar on Tuesday decided to crack the whip against erring officials of the Food Corporation of India (FCI). I have discussed the matter a dozen times with the authorities concerned,but nothing has been done. Time has come for ruthless action against the erring officials. I have told the FCI Chairman and Managing Director that he should immediately take suspension action. If possible,criminal action should be taken against the officers concerned, Pawar said during the conference of state food secretaries. ens