At a meeting of a parliamentary committee held on Tuesday, members demanded that the free food grain scheme started by the government as part of the rescue package to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, that ended on November 30, should be extended.
The issue was raised at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution headed by Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandhopadhyay. The members were of the view that till a vaccine is approved and distributed to the general public the free food grain scheme should be extended.
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana was announced in March this year by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman as part of the rescue package. The scheme covers the 80 crore ration card holders. Each household gets free five kg of rice or wheat each month and one kg of pulses. The scheme was announced only for three months in the first round till June 30 and later it was extended till November 30.
“The pandemic is not over yet and the number of cases are also rising. Our view is that till the time we are really through with this pandemic the scheme should continue,” a member said on condition of anonymity. The officials who were deposing in front of the committee did not give any conclusive reply, only saying that the suggestions will be considered.
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According to informed sources, a few States have also written to the government demanding an extension. Senior officials at the Department of Food and Public Distribution have indicated that the government is not likely to offer any extension.
“We are a country with a huge buffer stock, so it is absolutely illogical to leave these stocks for rodents to feed on rather than giving it to the hungry,” another member said.
Associate Professor of Economics, IIT Delhi, Reetika Khera, who has been involved with food security issues, pointed out that as per the information available on the Food Corporation of India website, the buffer stock in October should be 307 lakh mt, whereas it was more than 700 lakh mt in September. Since then the data were not available.
“It appears that the stocks are far in excess of the buffer stock norms. Continuing the Garib Kalyan Yojana will provide relief to millions of poor households facing uncertainty and food anxieties, and will help government reduce its storage costs [which are not insignificant]. There is no reason to not extend it,” she said.
