Paswan asks states to keep close tabs on prices of perishable commodities

Union Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Friday urged states to keep close tabs on prices of perishable commodities, which tend to skyrocket in the festive period between July and November. He said the respective state governments must ensure that food grains are delivered at the doorstep of beneficiaries who are unable to collect them from PDS centres to  avoid instances of starvation deaths.
 
Taking strong exception to reports of deaths due to starvation in some states such as Jharkhand, Paswan said investigations were on to find out the reason behind such untoward incidents and advised the state administrations to secure written assurances from beneficiaries regarding who would collect the rations on their behalf.
 
These along with other issues were discussed in details with the state food ministers in a meeting in New Delhi on Friday.
 
"We have given guidelines to all states to ensure there are no starvation deaths because of non-delivery of PDS grains. As a precautionary measure, we have asked states to provide doorstep-delivery of subsidised grains," Paswan told reporters after the meeting.
 
He also asked the state authorities to keep a watch on beneficiaries who are not availing the facility for three consecutive months.

 
"It could be such that the beneficiary may be rich and does not require and, in such case, the ration card can be cancelled. There could be another possibility that some beneficiaries are not able to visit ration shops because of old age and physical disability. In that case, we need to provide home delivery of ration," Paswan added.
 
As many as 15 state food ministers participated in the meeting, besides senior officials from states and the Centre.
 
The minister also said the subsidy rate at which PDS materials were supplied through ration shops had not been revised since the food law was rolled out in July 2013. PDS rates have been kept unchanged for rice at Rs Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg and coarse grains at Rs 1/kg.
 
On price of perishable commodities, Paswan told states to set up state-level price stabilisation fund (PSF), similar to the one the Centre has, to help regulate the price volatility of important agri-horticultural commodities such as onion, potatoes and pulses.