By IANS,
New Delhi : The empowered Group of Ministers (eGoM) on food did not discuss the draft food security bill in their meeting Friday, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said.
“Food security was not on the agenda,” Pawar told reporters after the meeting of the eGOM headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Home Minister P.Chidambaram, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Rural Development Minister C.P. Joshi also attended the meeting.
The eGoM discussed “whether we can improve the allocation of food grains through the PDS (public distribution system),” he said.
The eGoM also discussed about the improved storage facility in the wake of bumper crops.
“The question is where to store? We have selected various stores where we can secure food. We have taken the help of the private sector,” Pawar said.
The minister said that the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) projection of a normal monsoon this year is very good for the agriculture sector in the country.
“The IMT projection of 98 percent monsoon with a variability factor of five percent is very good,” he said.
The eGoM had earlier met March 18 and then again April 5 to deliberate upon incorporating Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s suggestion of providing 35 kg of rice or wheat per month to each below poverty line (BPL) family at Rs.3 a kg. The eGoM had initially proposed 25 kg of food grain to each BPL family in the draft food security bill.
The eGOM deferred a decision till the Planning Commission gave a report on the number of BPL qualify for the ambitious social welfare scheme.