(a) whether the mid-term appraisal of the Ninth Plan has revealed that people living below the poverty line are no longer PDS beneficiaries in the State of Bihar;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the reasons for the failure of PDS in the State;
(d) whether the Union Government have initiated any corrective steps in this regard; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION ( SHRI SRIRAM CHAUHAN )
(a), (b) and (c) Planning Commission in the Mid-Term appraisal of 9th Five Year Plan has cited
a study in Bihar which has reported inter alia that on the whole, only Government staff, agents
and retailers benefit from the scheme.
Public Distribution System (PDS) is operated under the joint responsibility of Government of
India and the State Governments/UT Administrations. While the Central Government is responsible
for procuring and making available to the States the PDS commodities to the Principal
Distribution Centres, identification of BPL population, issue of ration cards and distribution
of subsidised foodgrains to the cardholders rests with the State Governments.
It is not correct that people living below the poverty line are no longer PDS beneficiaries
in the State of Bihar. As per the report received from Government of Bihar, however, at present
the prevailing prices of foodgrains available in open market is nearly at par with the rates
of BPL foodgrains at the retail level. It is further reported by Bihar Government that,
therefore, beneficiaries under BPL category are not much inclined to lift their foodgrains
from PDS. Lifting of foodgrains during last four years is as follows:
(figures in MT)
Allocation Lifting Rice Wheat Rice Wheat
1997-98 380560 545560 158258 414105 1998-99 412320 618480 227075 533418 1999-2000 412320 618480 216977 575927 2000-2001 824640 1236950 109205 280919