At the food ministers' conference, held in New Delhi
on Monday, Himachal Pradesh's food, civil supplies and consumer affairs
minister G S Bali urged the Centre to provide wheat flour instead of
wheat grains under the National Food Security Act.
He said that the remote, rural, backward, tribal and difficult areas of the state had no grinding facilities, and its people demanded wheat flour. He added that under the Act, the state government had to bear the expenditure of grinding the wheat to make flour.
Bali added that government of Himachal Pradesh did not have sufficient funds to convert wheat grain to flour, and demanded that the full expenditure incurred by it to do so be reimbursed to it.
Increasing storage capacity
Stating that the state had the capacity to store foodgrains for just 45 days, he requested the Centre to assist in enhancing the storage capacity of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) as well as that the state's civil supplies corporation.
“Owing to the difficult topographic condition in the state, we urged the Centre to increase the storage capacity so that at least three months' ration requirements could be stored in order to meet any eventuality,” Bali added.
He said that the state had a storage capacity of 55,371 million tonne (MT), and that of FCI was 34,730MT, and added that the state civil supplies corporation was in no position to construct scientific warehouses to store foodgrains due to the paucity of funds.
The minister also requested the Centre to provide grants for the construction of warehouses for the state civil supplies corporation, and direct FCI to increase its storage capacity in the state.
Fair price shops
Bali said that 100 per cent of the state's population was covered under the targeted public distribution system (TPDS), and foodgrains, as per the scale fixed by the Centre, were being provided to all the ration cardholders through a network of 4, 762 fair price shops (each of which cater to about 1,600 ration cardholders).
Schemes
The minister thanked the Centre for providing subsidised foodgrains, and added that the Rajiv Gandhi Ann Yojna, which was launched in the state under the Food Security Act by its chief minister Virbhadra Singh on September 20, 2013, would be implemented from October 1, 2013.
He said that under the Act, only 36,82,000 people had been covered in Himachal Pradesh, and added that 56.23 per cent of the rural and 30.99 per cent of the urban population would be entitled to get subsidised foodgrains.
The minister also requested that the coverage of beneficiaries be enhanced to 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the urban population as mandated in the Act.
Bali said that Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) and below poverty line (BPL) households, Annapurna beneficiaries, households getting welfare pension and Tibetan permit-holders were automatically included in the eligible households under the Act, which covers a population of 26,78,804.
He added that it was upto the state to identify the rest of the beneficiaries (10,03,196), and the guidelines for the same have been issued to the urban local bodies and Gram Panchayats, and assured that the government would complete the entire selection process by the end of October 2013.
MoU
The minister said that the state government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre for the implementation of an end-to-end computerisation project in the state, for which a proposal to the tune of Rs 16.67 crore had been sent to the latter for the grant of funds.
He requested the Centre to provide financial assistance to the state for the implementation of e-PDS (electronic public distribution system) and the establishment of CCTV cameras and GPS systems for stopping diversion in transportation and other malpractices in TPDS.
Grievance redressal
Bali said that the district food and civil supplies controllers had been designated as district grievance redressal officers at the district level. The divisional commissioners had been designated as state food commissioners, who would function within their respective jurisdiction. He added that fair price shops were being opened by public demand as per the guidelines issued by the government and orders of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
He added that urban local bodies and Panchayati Raj institutions were involved in the identification of beneficiaries under AAY and priority households as per notification dated August 1, 2013. They would also be a part of the vigilance committees already operating in the state.
“These are already functioning under TPDS and fresh vigilance committees are being constituted for monitoring the distribution of foodgrains under the NFSA,” Bali added.
He said that the remote, rural, backward, tribal and difficult areas of the state had no grinding facilities, and its people demanded wheat flour. He added that under the Act, the state government had to bear the expenditure of grinding the wheat to make flour.
Bali added that government of Himachal Pradesh did not have sufficient funds to convert wheat grain to flour, and demanded that the full expenditure incurred by it to do so be reimbursed to it.
Increasing storage capacity
Stating that the state had the capacity to store foodgrains for just 45 days, he requested the Centre to assist in enhancing the storage capacity of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) as well as that the state's civil supplies corporation.
“Owing to the difficult topographic condition in the state, we urged the Centre to increase the storage capacity so that at least three months' ration requirements could be stored in order to meet any eventuality,” Bali added.
He said that the state had a storage capacity of 55,371 million tonne (MT), and that of FCI was 34,730MT, and added that the state civil supplies corporation was in no position to construct scientific warehouses to store foodgrains due to the paucity of funds.
The minister also requested the Centre to provide grants for the construction of warehouses for the state civil supplies corporation, and direct FCI to increase its storage capacity in the state.
Fair price shops
Bali said that 100 per cent of the state's population was covered under the targeted public distribution system (TPDS), and foodgrains, as per the scale fixed by the Centre, were being provided to all the ration cardholders through a network of 4, 762 fair price shops (each of which cater to about 1,600 ration cardholders).
Schemes
The minister thanked the Centre for providing subsidised foodgrains, and added that the Rajiv Gandhi Ann Yojna, which was launched in the state under the Food Security Act by its chief minister Virbhadra Singh on September 20, 2013, would be implemented from October 1, 2013.
He said that under the Act, only 36,82,000 people had been covered in Himachal Pradesh, and added that 56.23 per cent of the rural and 30.99 per cent of the urban population would be entitled to get subsidised foodgrains.
The minister also requested that the coverage of beneficiaries be enhanced to 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the urban population as mandated in the Act.
Bali said that Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) and below poverty line (BPL) households, Annapurna beneficiaries, households getting welfare pension and Tibetan permit-holders were automatically included in the eligible households under the Act, which covers a population of 26,78,804.
He added that it was upto the state to identify the rest of the beneficiaries (10,03,196), and the guidelines for the same have been issued to the urban local bodies and Gram Panchayats, and assured that the government would complete the entire selection process by the end of October 2013.
MoU
The minister said that the state government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Centre for the implementation of an end-to-end computerisation project in the state, for which a proposal to the tune of Rs 16.67 crore had been sent to the latter for the grant of funds.
He requested the Centre to provide financial assistance to the state for the implementation of e-PDS (electronic public distribution system) and the establishment of CCTV cameras and GPS systems for stopping diversion in transportation and other malpractices in TPDS.
Grievance redressal
Bali said that the district food and civil supplies controllers had been designated as district grievance redressal officers at the district level. The divisional commissioners had been designated as state food commissioners, who would function within their respective jurisdiction. He added that fair price shops were being opened by public demand as per the guidelines issued by the government and orders of the Himachal Pradesh High Court.
He added that urban local bodies and Panchayati Raj institutions were involved in the identification of beneficiaries under AAY and priority households as per notification dated August 1, 2013. They would also be a part of the vigilance committees already operating in the state.
“These are already functioning under TPDS and fresh vigilance committees are being constituted for monitoring the distribution of foodgrains under the NFSA,” Bali added.
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