Question : Allocation of Foodgrains to Kerala

(a) whether the Government of Kerala has demanded allocation of more foodgrains for public distribution and if so, the action taken by the Government thereon;
(b) the details of demand and allocation of foodgrains to Kerala during each of the last two years;
(c) whether the Government is aware that the distribution and supply of foodgrains implemented on the basis of National Food Security Act have adversely affected the Public Distribution System in Kerala and if so, the action taken to protect the existing Public Distribution System in Kerala; and
(d) whether the Government has received representations from Kerala seeking extension of time for implementation of provisions of the National Food Security Act so as to protect the existing Public Distribution System and if so, the details of the initiatives taken by the Government with the support of Kerala for continuing the existing ration distribution system in the State?

MINISTER OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI RAMVILAS PASWAN)
(a)to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO. 176 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 14.3.2017 IN THE LOK SABHA
(a) to (d) The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), which came into force with effect from 5th July, 2013 seeks to provide for food and nutritional security. The Act provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving highly subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-thirds of the population at Census 2011 population. The quota of foodgrains under NFSA for the States/UTs has been fixed considering the coverage of population of the State under the Act and the average annual offtake of foodgrains provided under AAY, BPL, APL and Additional APL categories under erstwhile TPDS during the three financial years prior to enactment of NFSA.
NFSA has been implemented by Kerala with effect from 1st Nov, 2016 and as per the provision of the Act, 118754.083 tons of foodgrains per month is being allocated to Kerala. State of Kerala can annually be granted upto a maximum of 14.25 lakh MT of foodgrains while protecting the offtake of foodgrain of three years prior to the period when NFSA came into effect. Foodgrain allocation to Kerala is done in terms of the policy which is uniformly applicable to all the 36 States/Union Territories. Kerala has been demanding additional allocation of around 2 lakh MT of foodgrain over and above its entitlement under NFSA.
The allocation of foodgrain made to Kerala during the past two years i.e. 2014-15 and 2015-16 under the erstwhile TPDS system is tabulated below:
(Figures in tons)
Allocation Year
TPDS Normal
Additional Allocation
Total Allocation
AAY
BPL
APL
Total
APL
BPL
2014-15
250260
402348
573996
1226 724
247625
120890
1595239
2015-16
250260
402348
573996
1226 724
245964
119172
1591860
The commitment of the Government is to provide subsidized foodgrain to the poorest section of the society. Prior to the implementation of NFSA under erstwhile TPDS system, 5.96 lakh AAY families (31.47 lakh persons) were allocated about 2.50 lakh MT of foodgrain @ Rs.3/2 per kg for rice/wheat respectively and 9.58 lakh BPL families (50.58 lakh persons) were allocated about 5.02 lakh MT of foodgrain @ Rs.5.65/4.15 per kg for rice/wheat respectively. Subsequent to implementation of NFSA with effect from 1st November, 2016, 5.96 lakh AAY families (25.59 lakh persons) and 129 lakh persons under priority household category are being annually allocated 10.25 lakh MT of foodgrain @ Rs.3/2 per kg for rice/wheat respectively. Thus under NFSA, a larger section of the poorer people are getting foodgrain at more subsidized prices than before.
Kerala has been demanding additional allocation of around 2 lakh MT of foodgrain over and above its annual entitlement of 14.25 lakh MT under NFSA. Kerala has been informed that the additional allocation of foodgrain can be made at Economic Cost as per the extant policy of Government of India. Moreover, the State Government can also explore procurement of foodgrain under the Open Market Sales Scheme (OMSS) as the cost of foodgrain under OMSS is comparatively lesser than the Economic Cost.
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