Decentralised grain procurement: Parl panel urges govt rope in more states

The Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution had observed that only 8 states have adopted the DCP scheme for wheat and 15 states for rice, even after 23 years of inception

A Parliamentary committee on Tuesday said the government should take "proactive steps" to encourage more states to adopt the Decentralised Procurement (DCP) system for foodgrains.

Under the DCP scheme, foodgrains are procured and distributed by the state governments themselves. The designated DCP states procure, store and issue foodgrains under public distribution system (PDS) and other welfare schemes of the Government of India.

The Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, headed by Sudip Bandyopadhyay, in its 13th report had observed that only eight states have adopted the DCP scheme for wheat and 15 states for rice, even after 23 years of inception.

The committee had also observed that the DCP scheme has added efficiency to PDS by making it possible to supply grains suited to local taste, while recommending to the food ministry to promote it for adoption even though the scheme is mandatory for states.

Tabling the action taken report on recommendations made in its 13th report in Parliament on Tuesday, the committee said, "In its action taken reply, the ministry has merely stated that government is making all out efforts for implementing the scheme in all the states."

The ministry has not apprised the committee about any suitable reasons for not adopting the scheme by the remaining states and union territories or any difficulty faced by them, it noted.

"The Committee, therefore, reiterate their earlier recommendation and urge the Ministry to take proactive steps to encourage remaining States/UTs to adopt the scheme and suggest remedial measures for the problem, if any, coming in the way of adoption of the scheme under intimation to the committee," it added.

The ministry has informed 16 states are undertaking DCP of rice. They include Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Andaman and Nicobar, and Tripura.

Nine states are undertaking DCP of wheat -- Maharasthra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh.