The Government has decided not to hike the prices of foodgrains sold via public distribution system (PDS) for one more year. Foodgrains are supplied at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 3/kg for rice, Rs 2/kg for wheat and Rs 1/kg for coarse grains via ration shops under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the Prime Minister has approved to keep central issue price of rice, wheat and coarse grains unchanged at the rate of Rs 3/2/1 per kg, respectively for further one year. “By keeping the central issue price of food grains unchanged under the NFSA, the Government has shown its commitment towards the well-being of depressed class, he said.
Under the NFSA, which was passed in Parliament in 2013 during the previous UPA regime, there is a provision for revision of the issue prices of foodgrains every three years.
At present, the Government supplies 5 kg of subsidised foodgrains to each person per month to over 81 crore people via 5,00,000 ration shops in the country, costing the exchequer about Rs 1.4 lakh crore annually. NFSA was rolled out across the country in November 2016.
NFSA provides for coverage of 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population for receiving foodgrains at highly subsidised prices of Rs 1/2/3 per kg for coarse grains/
wheat/rice respectively. Coverage under the Act is under two categories - households covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and remaining households as priority households. AAY is therefore a part of NFSA.
In Delhi, over 72.73 lakh people are taking subsidised foodgrains under the NFSA.