Question : Distribution of Pulses

(a) the system in place for distribution of pulses to the States by the Union Government;
(b) whether the States have been showing little interest in lifting their quota of pulses from the Central pool and if so, the details thereof;
(c) the allotment and off-take of pulses, by the States during the current year, State-wise;
(d) whether a meeting of the inter-Ministerial Committee on prices of essential commodities was held recently and if so, the details and outcome thereof; and
(e) whether the Government expects the prices of pulses to fall with the arrival of Kharif pulses in the market and if so, the details thereof?

THE MINISTER OF
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI RAM VILAS PASWAN)

(a) to (e) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.*185 FOR 29.11.2016 REGARDING DISTRIBUTION OF PULSES.
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(a) to (c): Although India is the largest consumer, importer and producer of pulses in the world, there is a huge demand and supply gap on account of increasing demand. To fill this gap and to stabilize the prices of pulses, the Government has approved creation of buffer stock of pulses of up to 20 lakh tonnes with support from the Price Stabilization Fund (PSF) scheme. As and when required, pulses from the buffer stock are released to the States and the Central agencies for effective market intervention. Under PSF scheme, pulses from the buffer stock are being allocated to the States/UTs on the basis of specific requests received from them. States/UTs which have indicated requirement of pulses from the buffer stock are Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Andaman & Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Meghalaya. Till date, around 48,660.285 tonnes of pulses has been allocated from the buffer stock to the States or through Central Agencies, as per details at Annexure-I.

(d) : Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to review the prices of essential commodities on weekly basis was constituted on 3rd September, 2015. So far, 56 meetings of the committee have been held. In these meetings, issues relating to price rise of essential food commodities are discussed and recommendations made thereof are taken up with concerned Departments for implementation. Recent policy decisions taken on the basis of recommendations by IMC include reduction in import duty of edible Palm oil from 12.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent for Crude Palm Oil of edible grade and from 20 per cent to 15 per cent for Refined Palm Oil of edible grade.; reduced import duty on Potatoes from 30% to 10% till end October 2016; etc.

(e) : Over the year, there has been a fall (Annexure-II) in the prices of major pulses on account of the decision to create a strategic buffer stock of 20 lakh tonnes of essential pulses; procurement of pulses at Minimum Support Prices (MSP); monitoring of prices on regular basis; zero import duty on pulses; and estimated higher production of Kharif pulses. However, Chana prices are still ruling high as there has been huge deficit in supply both domestic as well as overseas. As per the 1st Advance Estimates, 2016-17 released by DAC&FW, the Kharif pulses production estimates is 8.70 million tonnes against 5.54 million tonnes in 2015-16 i.e. a rise of 57.04% from the previous year.
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