Members of the Parliamentary standing committee on food, consumer affairs and public distribution are not satisfied with the “poor” Budget allocation for the Food Ministry, given the fact that the Government has promised to implement the Food Security Bill very soon.
The standing committee, which also considers the Food Security Bill, held a detailed interaction with the officials of the food and public distribution ministry and PSUs like the Food Corporation of India and the Central Warehousing Corporation here on Thursday.
The FCI told the standing committee that there is a gap of Rs 44,473 crore in the subsidy releases and their demand. The FCI said it had demanded Rs 1,06,451 crore from the Government for this financial year to strengthen its infrastructure so that procurement could be improved.
Last year, the amount demanded was Rs 67,639 crore, and what was released was Rs 59,526 crore.
FCI told the panel, headed by the Congress MP Mr Vilasrao Muttemwar, that since it had to keep in mind the additional procurement and storage for the proposed Food Security Act, the amount demanded was increased to Rs 1,06,451 crore for this financial year.
However, the Budget release was of Rs 61,978 crore. The FCI added that there was Rs 44,473-crore gap between releases and demands.
Citing the “poor allocation” MPs question the Government's commitment to implement the Food Security Bill. “The Government says it needs to improve procurement and storage to implement the Food Bill and on the other hand, the allotment to the FCI is very poor,” a standing committee member told Business Line .
Standing committee members said the Food Ministry's pet scheme of computerising the Public Distribution System to check leakages and diversion of foodgrains is also marred by lack of funds.
“The Ministry swears by computerisation. But the Planning Commission has provided just Rs 40 crore against the demand of Rs 588 crore,” the MP added.
Sources in the panel said members, cutting across political lines demanded a more “focussed” approach from the Government to implement the much-awaited Food Security Bill.