A Committee of Ministers will give its views on revising the buffer and strategic norms for wheat and rice.
The Government has proposed revising the norms after a gap of eight years.
“A committee consisting of the Finance Minister, the Agriculture Minister and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission will look into whether buffer norms should be changed or not,” Food and Consumer Affairs Minister K.V. Thomas, told reporters.
On Thursday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs considered the proposal but referred it to the committee. However, Thomas said that the buffer norms will continue in the current form.
“Actually there is no difference between actual and buffer storage,” he said. The proposed revision aims to help the Government meet challenges arising out from implementing the ambitious food security scheme. The revision is expected to result in additional expenditure of Rs 10,000 crore annually. Under the buffer stocks norms, a fixed quantity of foodgrain is required to be stored at a particular time of the year mandatorily for distribution through the public distribution system and other welfare schemes. These norms have not been revised since April 2005.
However, in the wake of the global economic crisis, the concept of a strategic reserve was introduced in 2008, wherein additional quantities of wheat and rice were stored over and above the buffer stocks, to take care of any contingency.
Through the national food security scheme, the Government envisages distribution of over 61.2 million tonnes (mt) of subsidised foodgrains – mainly rice and wheat – to about 67 per cent of the population. Currently, it requires over 55 mt to provide subsidised foodgrains at fair price shops. According to the current norm, the buffer requirement as on April 1 stands at 21.2 mt, which the Government wants to increase to 32.34 mt. Similarly as on July 1, the buffer requirement stands at 31.8 mt, which the Government has proposed to revise to 53.53 mt. For October 1, the Government proposes to have a buffer storage of 43.63 mt, against the current 21.2 mt. Finally, on January 1, the minimum quantity under buffer and strategic reserve is proposed to be raised to 33.4 mt from current provision of 25 mt. The review of the buffer norms comes at a time when the Government is expecting a bumper harvest of foodgrain for the second consecutive year, aided by good monsoon this year.