Govt has no proposal to hike PDS prices of foodgrains under NFSA: Goyal

19 Feb 2021 Evaluate

Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the government currently has no proposal to hike the prices of foodgrains sold through ration shops under the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Currently, the government supplies highly subsidised foodgrains at Rs 1-3 per kg to over 81 crore people through public distribution system (PDS). Under the NFSA, which was passed in 2013 during the previous UPA regime, there is a provision for revision of the issue prices of foodgrains every three years. However, foodgrains prices have not been revised since the introduction of the Act although economic cost has increased every year.

Goyal said ‘At present, there is no such proposal before the food ministry to increase the prices of products given under the Food Security Act’. And, the PDS prices of rice, wheat and coarse grains will continue to be sold at Rs 3, Rs 2 and Re 1 per kg, respectively. The government supplies 5 kg of subsidised foodgrains to each person per month through 5.5 lakh ration shops. NFSA has been rolled out across the country since November 2016. On the progress made in ration card portability, the minister said the work in this regard under the scheme 'One Nation, One Ration Card (ONORC)' began two years ago and today, the facility is available in 32 states and Union Territories.

Under the ONORC plan, beneficiaries can lift their entitled foodgrains from any electronic point of sale device (ePoS)-enabled fair price shops of their choice by using their existing ration cards with biometric authentication. Goyal said ‘Two years back, the work had begun when it was implemented in four states. In a short span of time, this facility has now been provided in 32 states/UTs covering about 69 crore beneficiaries.’

He added that about 1.5 crore beneficiaries are taking advantage of the ration card portability facility. Stating that four more states are expected to implement the ONORC by March 31, Goyal said ‘The speedy work is in progress in Delhi, Assam, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. Due to elections in Assam and West Bengal, there might be some delay of 2-3 months.’ The central government is in regular touch with the rest of the states where ration card portability is yet to be implemented and encouraging them to put necessary systems in place.

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