Question : UNLIFTED FOODGRAINS

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (PROF. K.V. THOMAS)

(a) & (b): Procurement of foodgrains in Central Pool is an open ended process. Record procurement of foodgrains in recent years has led to availability of excess stocks in the Central Pool. Due to which some quantity of foodgrains remain un-utilised. However, foodgrains are issued by FCI on crop-year wise First in First Out (FIFO) principle.

In addition to above, most of the States/UTs fail to lift their entire quota of allotted foodgrains under TPDS(APL, BPL and AAY) and Other Welfare Schemes(OWS), which is also a reason of increase in stock level of foodgrains in the Central Pool against the prescribed Buffer Norms. The details of prescribed buffer norms and availability of stock of foodgrains in the Central Pool as on 01.07.2013 is given as under :-

(Figs. in Million Tonnes)	Rice	Wheat	Total
Buffer Norms & Strategic	11.8	20.1	31.9
Reserve for 1st July
Stock in Central Pool	#31.5	42.4	73.9
as on 01.07.2013
#: Including paddy in terms of rice. 

A statement showing state-wise availability of foodgrains and sugar (with FCI only), including the State of Maharashtra, in the Central Pool as on 01.07.2013 is given at Annexure-I.

A statement showing State/UT-wise allotment and offtake under various schemes of Government during 2012-13 and the current year is given at Annexure-II.

The low offtake of foodgrains by the States/UTs may be attributed to some of the following reasons :-

(i) The limited source of financial arrangements with State/UT Government or their agencies.

(ii) Non-availability of sufficient storage capacity with the State Governments to stock the foodgrains after lifting the same from FCI.

(iii) Lower demand due to higher production of foodgrains and increase in per capita income of the households.

(c): The Government has taken following steps to increase lifting of foodgrains and liquidation of stocks from the Central Pool:

(1) The Government has delegated powers to FCI officers to extend validity period of lifting for a period of one month after expiry of the validity period.

(2) States/UTs have been allowed to lift 6 months quota under TPDS in advance.

(3) Special/Adhoc additional allocations have been made to all the States/UTs.

(4) Offtake is monitored on regular basis and matter is taken up with the State/UT for lifting their full quota of foodgrains.

(5) Sale of foodgrains under OMSS(D) is being undertaken to check the inflationary trends in the market and also to liquidate surplus foodgrains in the Central Pool.