 "Shanta Kumar panel's views opposed by major grain producing states")
They have opposed the lowering of grain entitlement under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) to 40 per cent and cash transfer of food subsidy.
In its letter to the department of food and consumer affairs, the Madhya Pradesh government said since the Act came into force, it has provided cheap grains to almost four million families and included landless labourers, rickshaw pullers and others into its ambit and hence does not agree to this suggestion to lower the entitlement.
"It won't be prudent to remove any of the above mentioned categories of people from the ambit of the food Act after such a short time," the letter said.
Odisha said the panel had exceeded its brief in recommending lowering of grain entitlement under the Act. "The high-level committee, which had no mandate to go into its provisions, has questioned its viability," Odisha said in the letter to the Union ministry of food and consumer affairs.
Tamil Nadu said it is principally opposed to cash transfer of food subsidy under the Public Distribution System due to limited access and timely availability of commodities, while Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said any move to lower grain procurement from north Indian states and shift it to eastern part of the country might create severe unrest and threaten the country's nutritional security.
Business Standard had reported the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government moving fast to replace PDS with cash transfers in Union Territories at first go and in pilot districts in states asking them to prepare the grounds for it immediately (https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/centre-takes-steps-to-convert-pds-to-cash-transfers-115022400033_1.html).
The committee constituted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for reforming FCI under the chairmanship of former Union food minister Shanta Kumar had recommended lowering the grain entitlement under the Food Security Act to 40 per cent and also cash transfer in select cities. It has also suggested shifting FCI's grain procurement from northern India to eastern parts of the country to boost farm growth.
Currently, more than 80 per cent of the wheat and rice produced by Punjab and Haryana is purchased by FCI annually either directly or through state agencies. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh, which is also a big contributor of grains, said any move to limit grain procurement from states which declare bonus over the Centre-determined minimum support price (MSP), might deprive it from having flexibility in procurement of grains for PDS.
Officials said the state was also of the view that if in future the market price of foodgrain increases significantly then it would difficult for states to purchase grains for the public distribution system. "In such a scenario, it would be impractical on part of the states to stop declaring bonus over MSP," the letter said.
It also opposed the committee's suggestion to fix the taxes and commission on grains at 3-4 per cent. "This proposal is against the federal structure and Centre's intervention is not correct," Madhya Pradesh said.
The Centre, meanwhile, on Tuesday clarified in the Lok Sabha that the government does not have any proposal to lower the coverage under the food Act as suggested by the panel.
"The National Food Security Act is already in force. There is no proposal for any amendment to the Act," Minister of State for Food and Public Distribution Raosaheb Patil Danve said in a written reply.
Odisha also said the implementation of the Act should not be made conditional on end-to-end computerisation of PDS.
On cash transfer of food subsidy, Madhya Pradesh said it would lead to a situation where beneficiaries would spend the amount for non
The prime minister directed the department of food to send its suggestions on the report as soon as possible, following which the department along with FCI held a series of meetings to prepare a roadmap for implementing the recommendations.
FCI has also constituted a committee to work on a roadmap for shifting grain procurement from northern states to eastern parts of the country.