100% digitisation of ration cards done, a major step towards leak-proof PDS in the country
Over
54 crore people benefiting with Rs 2/wheat and Rs3/kg rice after the
implementation of Food Security Act in 27 States.
Record procurement of paddy made extending MSP benefit to
more farmers
The Government has achieved significant mile stones in the
reforms of PDS. Almost 100 % (99.9%) ration cards have been digitised across
the country. Over 42 % ration cards have been even linked with Aadhaar
cards and Point of Sale Devices, to keep electronic record of allocation to the
beneficiaries, have been installed in over 77,000 ration shops. These measures
will help making PDS more transparent and leak proof. This was stated by
Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ram
Vilas Paswan while addressing media in Bhubaneswar today.
Highlighting the initiatives taken by his Ministries during
last 20 months, Shri Paswan said that number of states implementing National
Food Security Act has now increased to 27, benefiting over 54 crore people with
Rs 2/kg wheat and Rs3/kg rice. Now all the States 36 States/UTs have and
online redressal of PDS grievances and toll free number for beneficiaries.
Online allocation of foodgrains is being made in 20 states.
Shri Paswan said huge paddy procurement has been made
during on-going Kharif season ensuring reach of MSP operations to more
farmers. 261.37 lakh tonnes paddy has been procured till February 11, 2016
while during last kharif season it was 215.49 lakh tonnes. Even in Odisha procurement
till date is 16.07 Lakh tonnes while during last season it was 15.06 lakh
tonnes.
Highlights of other initiatives of Union Ministry
of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution are:
·
NFSA
implementation likely in all the States/UTs by April this year. National Food
Security Act (NFSA) which came into force in July, 2014, now being implementing
in 27 States/UTs. By April it is likely to be implemented in all remaining
States/ UTs.
·
In
order to check leakage and diversions and to facilitate Direct Cash Transfer
of food subsidy to the beneficiaries has been launched in Chandigarh and
Puducherry in September, 2015, Under the scheme, in lieu of foodgrains
subsidy component is credited directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries
who will be free to buy foodgrains from anywhere in the market.
·
The
Central Government also decided to share 50% (75% in the case of Hilly and
difficult areas) of the cost of handling & transportation of foodgrains
incurred by the states and the dealers’ margin so that it is not passed on to
the beneficiaries and they get coarse grains Rs1/kg, wheat at Rs2/kg and rice
at Rs 3/kg.
·
To
ensure that beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act get entitled
foodgrains positively, rules for payment of food security allowance to the
beneficiary in the case of non-delivery of foodgrains have been notified.
·
In
order to provide nutritional security to the economically vulnerable sections
of society and to have better targeting of “other welfare schemes’ for poor, a
Committee of Ministers set up under the chairmanship of Minister for Consumer
Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has decided continuation of foodgrain
allocation for Other Welfare Schemes and also has recommended for providing
milk and eggs – pulses etc. under the schemes.
Improving
foodgrain management
Sustained
efforts have resulted in significant reforms in TPDS. As a result so far-
·
99.9
% ration cards digitized.
·
42%
ration cards have been seeded with Aadhaar,
·
Online
allocation of foodgrains implemented in 20 states/UTs.
·
77,631
FPS automated
by installing
‘Point of Sale’ device.
·
Online
grievance redressal implemented and Toll free help lines installed in all the
36
States/UTs
·
Transparency
portal
to display all operations of TPDS launched in 27 States/UTs
Relief
to farmers
In
order to give relief to the farmers affected by the unprecedented rains &
hailstorms last year, Government relaxed Quality norms for the wheat
procurement and also decided to reimburse amount of value cut on such
relaxation to the States so that farmers get full Minimum Support Price (MSP). Such
a farmer’s centric step has
been taken for the first time by any Central Government.
·
In
a bid to increase reach of minimum support price (MSP) operations to more
farmers and increase procurement of paddy, the procurement policy has been
modified and private firms have been allowed to procure paddy from farmers in a
cluster, identified by the respective state government in the states of Assam,
Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal. These states lack
necessary infrastructure and experience in large scale procurement operations
and the Food Corporation of India (FCI), too, does not have a robust
procurement mechanism which often forces farmers to go for distress sale.
Private firms would deliver custom milled rice (CMR) at the FCI or state
government-owned agency godowns.
·
For
creation of 1.5 LMT Buffer Stock of Pulses, FCI started procurement pulses from
farmers at market price or MSP whichever is higher. FCI has targeted the
procurement of 20,000 MT of Arhar, 2,500 MT of Urad (Total 22,500 MT) during
Kharif Marketing Season 2015-16. Similarly, target has been fixed for
procurement of 40,000 MT Chana and 10,000 MT of Masur (Total 50,000 MT) during
Rabi Marketing Season 2015-16.
·
The
drop in international prices of imported oils was affecting the prices of
domestically produced edible oils consequent upon which farmers’ interests were
affected. Department of Food and Public Distribution had recommended an
increase in the import duty. Accordingly, the import duty on Crude oils has
been increased from existing 7.5% to 12.5% and the import duty on refined oils
from existing 15% to 20%. on 17.09.2015
Reforms in FCI
- To bring all operations of FCI Godowns online and to check reported leakage, “Depot Online” system initiated in 30 sensitive depots. Depot Online System will be rolled out in all the FCI-Owned Depots by May this year and in all other hired depots by year end.
- The FCI has been asked to take up construction modern silos for storage of total 100 lakh MT capacity at different locations in the country under PPP mode which will help in maintaining the quality of foodgrains, minimize losses and ensure rapid bulk movement of foodgrains.
- Time bound construction plan is:
- 2015-16- completion of 5 LMT capacity,
- 2016-17-completion of 15 LMT capacity,
- 2017-18- completion of 30 LMT capacity
- 2018-19- completion of 30 LMT capacity
- 2019-20- completion of 20 LMT capacity
- The Government of India approved sale of wheat and rice available in central pool above the stocking norms in the beginning the quarter of 2015-16 under Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS), 53.62 lakh MT of wheat and 0.84 lakh MT of Grade-A rice has been sold up to 9nd January 2016. Open Market Sale at reasonable rates is made to check inflation.
·
Despite last two years having been monsoon deficit years, due to
robust procurement arrangement made by FCI, there is more than adequate
foodgrain stock available with the Government under Central Pool. As on 1st
January, 2016, there is 237.88 lakh MT of issuable wheat stock under Central
Pool. Similarly, on 1st January, 2016 there is a stock of 126.89 lakh MT of
rice under Central Pool, which is 50.79 lakh MT more than stocking norms. This excess
quantity will help in meeting any contingencies arising due to monsoon deficit
or natural calamities.
- Government revised the buffer norms in January, 2015 for better management of foodgrain storage. During 2015-16 both storage and transit losses have been reduced to (-) 0.03% due to storage gain in wheat and 0.39% against MoU target of 0.15% and 0.42% respectively.
- Storage capacity for central pool stocks of food grains increased to 796.08 lakh MT. New godowns having capacity of 10 lakh MT under Private Entrepreneur Guarantee Scheme (PEG) constructed in 20 States. Besides this storage capacity of 62,650 MT in North East under Plan Scheme and 1.78 lakh MT in 12 States added through CWC.
- 610.50 lakh MT of foodgrains were allocated to States/UTs for distribution under TPDS and other Welfare Schemes during 2015-16 (upto 18.01.2016).
- The Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) also achieved all time high turnover of Rs. 1562 crore in 2014-15.
- A transformation plan for the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) has been initiated to streamline the warehousing sector. The work on for creation of IT platform and rewriting of rules and procedures has been initiated.
Steps
taken to liquidate cane price arrears of farmers -
The Government
took several measures to facilitate payment of cane price arrears by infusing
liquidity into the sector.
·
A
scheme for extending soft loans to the extent of Rs. 6000 crore to the sugar
industry was notified on 23.6.2015. Rs 4152crore have been disbursed under the
scheme. The government also extended period by one year for achieving
eligibility under the soft loan scheme and decided to bear the interest
subvention cost to the extent of Rs. 600 crore for the extended period.
·
Direct
Subsidy to farmers, Government decided to pay a production linked
subsidy of Rs 4.50 per quintal cane in 2015-16 season, to sugar mills to offset
the cost of cane and facilitate timely payment of cane price dues of farmers
for sugar season 2015-16. A notification in this regard issued on 2.12.2015. Funds
released under the scheme shall be directly credited into farmers’ accounts.
·
The
export incentive on raw sugar has been increased from Rs 3200/MT to Rs.
4000/MT. Funds have been allocated to support 14 lac MT (LMT) of raw sugar
exports as against 7.5 LMT achieved last year. In September 2015
Government also announced quotas for mills and co-operatives for mandatory
exports of four million tonne of sugar in 2015-16.
·
The
Government has enhanced import duty on sugar from 25% to 40% to discourage
imports. Also, to prevent leakages of sugar in the domestic markets, the export
obligation period has been reduced from 18 months to 6 months under the Advanced
Authorization Scheme.
·
Blending
targets under Ethanol Blending Programme scaled up from 5% to 10%.
·
Remunerative
prices for Ethanol supplied for blending have been substantially increased and
excise duty on ethanol supplied for blending in the next sugar season has been
waived. As a result, the supplies of ethanol for blending have increased from
about 32 crore liters per year to 83 crore liters per annum. It is also noteworthy that the sugar industry is now
active in the Ethanol Blending Program, by supplying 6.82 cr ltrs of ethanol to
Oil Marketing Companies during the current sugar season (since October, 2015)
as against mere 1.92 cr ltrs supplied during the corresponding period in the
last season. Furthermore, the contracted quantity under EBP is at an
unprecedented 120 cr ltrs in the current season which a historic high.
·
As
a result of these sustained efforts, the cane price arrears which were Rs.
21,000 crore in peak in April 2015 in sugar season of 2014-15 have came
down to Rs. 2,700 crore as on 12.1.2016.
New
provisions to promote quality of consumer products and services
·
In
order to ensure quality of products and services for common consumer, the
Government introduced Bureau of Indian Standards Bill, 2015 in Parliament
to replace 29 years- old BIS Act. The new Bill has been approved by the Lok
Sabha. In the new Bill provisions have been made for simpler
self-certification mechanism, mandatory hallmarking, and product recall and
product liability for better compliance to standards.
·
To
improve “ ease of doing business”, simplified conformity assessment schemes,
including self- certification and market surveillance instead of inspectors
visiting factories introduced, thereby ending the inspector raj on standards.
·
New
provisions proposed will promote harmonious development of standardisation
activities, enabling GoI to bring mandatory certifications regime for goods
or service considered vital from viewpoint of health, safety, environment,
and prevention of deceptive practices. Provision to prevent import of below par
products, providing mandatory hallmarking of precious metal articles,
increased scope of conformity assessment, and enhancement of penalties and
implication are the important provisions in the Act. The new Bill has also made
increased penal provisions for better and more effective compliance and
compounding of offence for violations
·
New
Bill provides for recall, including product liability of products not
conforming to relevant Indian Standards
·
Registration
for manufacturers of electronic products to safeguard consumer / industry
against sub-standard imports provided.
·
Under
the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, steps taken to formulate/upgrade standards on
potable water, street food and garbage disposal.
Boost to consumer protection
·
Consumer
Protection Bill 2015 that seeks to simplify and strengthen consumer grievance
redressal procedure introduced in the Parliament this year. Setting up of a
Central Protection Authority which will have powers to recall products and
initiate class suit against defaulting companies, including e-retailers
proposed. E-filing and time bound admission of complaints in consumer
courts is another important provision made in the Bill.
The Government adopted six points joint action plan for
consumer awareness and protection. This will include:
(i) Jointly developing and implementing industry standard for
grievance redressal
(ii) All Members of the Industry Associations to partner with the National Consumer Helpline and State Consumer Helplines
(ii) All Members of the Industry Associations to partner with the National Consumer Helpline and State Consumer Helplines
(iii) Launching of joint awareness campaigns
(iv) Earmarking of CSR funds for consumer welfare activities
(v) Developing a self-regulation code
(vi) Action against fake, sub-standard, counterfeit products
It would be launched on the World Consumer rights day on March 15
this year.
·
Joint
campaign organised with Heath, Financial Services and other departments for
greater consumer awareness. During the year the Department of Consumer Affairs
intensified its multimedia campaign under the banner of Jago Grahak Jago,
with special emphasis on rural area.
·
An
Inter-Ministerial Monitoring Committee constituted for key sectors that
matters to consumers viz Agriculture, Food, Healthcare, Housing, Financial
Services and Transport, to facilitate policy coherence and coordinated action
on consumer.
·
To
tackle the menace of misleading advertisement, a dedicated portal www.gama.gov launched. It enables
consumers to register their grievances against misleading advertisements in six
key sectors viz. food and agriculture, heath, education, real estate, transport
and financial services. The complaints lodged are taken up with the relevant
authorities or the sector regulators and the consumer is informed after the
action taken.
·
To
provide a host of consumer services under one roof, GrahakSuvidhaKendras
launched in six locations: Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Patna and
Delhi on March 18, 2015. Such centres will be set up in every State in a phased
manner. .
Measures
to ensure availability of Essential food items at reasonable prices
In
order to ensure availability of essential food items at reasonable prices the
Government took flowing decisions recently:
- Advance action plan drawn to ensure availability of Essential Commodities and weekly monitoring meeting of an inter-ministerial committee chaired by the Secretary Consumer Affairs.
- Decision taken to procure 1.50 lakh MT of pulses for creating buffer stock. Decision to import of 10,000 MT pulses already taken.
- MSP increased for kharif pulse by Rs 275 per qtl for Tur&Urad, and by Rs 250 per qtl for Moong.
- Ban on export of all pulses, except Kabuli Chana; and Organic Pulses & lentils up to 10,000 MTs. Zero import duty on pulses extended upto Sept, 2016.
- Zero import duty extended till 30th September 2016.
- States/UTs empowered to impose stock limits, on Onions and Pulses to check hoarding and black marketing under EC Act, 1955.
- Other edible oil in branded consumer pack of up to 5 kgs is permitted with MEP of USD 900 per MT w.e.f. 6.2.2015
No comments:
Post a Comment