By IANS,
New Delhi : Strengthening the public distribution system was at the core of successfully implementing the proposed food security legislation, Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution Minister K.V. Thomas said Tuesday.
“In order to be in a state of readiness to deliver provisions of the proposed National Food Security Bill there is an urgent need to strengthen the public distribution system,” said Thomas, addressing a conference of state food ministers here.
Stating that India has witnessed record foodgrain production of 250 million tonnes last year, Thomas urged the states to regularly review the grain supply through the PDS.
He said while the current year’s allocation for the PDS stood at 253.96 lakh tonnes, till September, the distribution was a matter of concern.
“It not only leads to denial of subsidised foodgrain to the targeted beneficiaries, but also accentuates the storage problem and adversely affects the subsequent procurement of foodgrain,” Thomas said.
The minister urged the states to create adequate storage facilities at all levels and complete the digitisation of PDS at the earliest.
“Checking leakages and diversion of foodgrain has been a challenge for the successful implementation of the public distribution system,” he said.
He said the government was considering cash transfers into the bank accounts of beneficiaries as an alternative model of food subsidy to address the problem.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said cash transfers were a good way to ensure that benefits of PDS reach the beneficiaries.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said the key to the success of the modernisation of PDS was in the re-engineering of all its components and massive expansion of the infrastructure related to procurement, storage and distribution.
“We need to fast track this process,” said Pawar.