(a) whether the attention of the Union Government has been drawn to a news-item regarding
decentralised procurement appearing in the `Hindu` of 24 March, 2002;
(b) the names of the States, who have not agreed to decentralise procurement of foodgrains alongwith the reasons;
(c) the manner in which financial burden on the States are likely to be shared; and
(d) the steps taken by the Union Government to resolve issues regarding decentralisation of procurement?
THE MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION ( SHRI SHANTA KUMAR )
(a),(b),(c)&(d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a),(b),(c)&(d) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.396 DUE FOR
ANSWER ON 19-04-2002 IN THE LOK SABHA.
(a): Yes, Sir.
(b): The States that were asked to take up the scheme of decentralized procurement but have
not done so are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir
, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttaranchal. In Haryana &
Punjab most of the procurement is already being done by the State Agencies. The reasons given
by other States for not taking up the scheme include, inter alia, lack of infrastructure,
shortage of funds and lack of trained and experienced manpower.
(c): Under the scheme of decentralized procurement, a State taking up decentralized
procurement is reimbursed by the Union Government the difference between the economic cost of
acquisition and distribution of foodgrains and the Central Issue Prices at which the foodgrains
are sold. Thus there is no financial burden on the State Government.
(d): Decentralised procurement and distribution of foodgrains was one of the items included
in the Agenda for the Conference of Chief Ministers on WTO Agreement and Food Management held
on 21.5.2001. However, there was no consensus on this issue and a Standing Committee comprising
some Union Ministers and State Chief Ministers, besides the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission
, was constituted to look into various aspects of Food Management and Agricultural Exports. In
the First meeting of the Standing Committee held on 6.7.2001, the Finance Minister emphasized
that in order to make the concept of MSP a reality for all farmers everywhere in the country, it
was necessary to encourage the States to take up decentralized procurement. He also pointed
out that a scheme would be prepared to share efficiency gains with the State Governments.
The Union Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution convened meetings with the
Food Secretaries/representatives of the State Governments of Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat
, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal
on 14.9.2001, 19.9.2001 and 9.10.2001. The representatives of the Governments of Uttaranchal
and Jammu & Kashmir could not attend the meeting. The State Governments were provided with a
detailed write up of the scheme and the steps required to be taken to implement the scheme. The
reservations of the States relating to shortage of storage facilities, trained manpower, credit
facilities, etc., were also addressed in these meetings.
A proposal was received from the State Government of Assam in the month of October, 2001
expressing its willingness to undertake decentralized procurement. Subsequently, the State
Government informed that the scheme was yet to receive clearance from its Finance Department.
The proposal of the State Government of Chhattisgarh to take up the scheme of
decentralized procurement has been approved recently.