The Union food ministry does not seem to be in favour of lowering the legal entitlement for cheap grain to 40 per cent of the population under the Food Security Act, from the current 67 per cent, as suggested by the Shanta Kumar committee on reforming the Food Corporation of India (FCI), a top official said.
However, a final decision is expected to taken by the Prime Minister's Office, the official added. The ministry does not want to take the politically-sensitive decision after the recent drubbing of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Delhi election and ahead of the crucial Assembly polls in states such as Bihar, where the opposition might make the scaling down of food security coverage an issue. However, the government might accept other suggestions of the panel, which are feasible to implement, officials said.
The department is not only likely to maintain the existing grain allocations under social welfare schemes like mid-day meal, Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), etc., but is in favour of expanding these schemes to include eggs and milk.
However, the subsidy incurred in distributing grains under these schemes is henceforth expected to reflect in the books of these ministries that run these programmes and not the food ministry. The mid-day meal scheme is run by the department of school education and ICDS by the ministry of women and child welfare.
"We held a meeting of ministers from the finance, commerce, power and food and it has been decided that the allocations under other welfare schemes will be maintained at the current level and could also be expanded," the official said.
Meanwhile, the eight-member panel, which was set up in August 2014 under the chairmanship of BJP MP Shanta Kumar to recommend a complete overhaul of FCI, had submitted its report last month. The prime minister had asked the food ministry to give its views on the report at the earliest.
In the report, the committee has suggested the government could cut its annual food subsidy bill by over Rs 30,000 crore through reduction of coverage of beneficiaries to 40 per cent of the population under the food law and outsourcing major work of FCI to states governments and private players.
As many as 11 states have so far rolled out the food law, which was passed by Parliament in September 2013. The government is also planning to extend the deadline for implementing the food law beyond April 4.
