Page 2 - Food Subsidy

Congress says PM Modi's New Year 'gift' cuts rations of 810 mn poor by 50%

The Congress on Tuesday alleged that the Modi government has reduced the ration of the 81 crore poor people by 50 percent in the new year. The opposition party said 81 crore Indians who were eligible for 10 kilograms of foodgrains will now get only five kilograms. "The year 2023 began with the depressing news that PM Modi's Cabinet has discontinued the Pradhan Mantri Garib Anna Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY), which provided an additional 5 kgs of food grains to beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA)," said AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh. He said with this sudden reduction of rations by 50 percent, the prime minister has taken this "regressive" decision with no consultation with state governments nor any discussion in Parliament. The Centre had undertaken the distribution of free food grains for 28 months under PMGKAY in view of the Covid pandemic but the scheme ended in December. However, the Cabinet has decided that subsidised foodgrains distributed to about 81.35

No free lunches

The free food scheme is driven by electoral considerations, but its long-term fiscal risks outweigh the short-term gains

Free grain under NFSA: States to save on food bill, lose political mileage

Food subsidies are a major portion of subsidies provided by states

Centre saves subsidy and wheat stocks by making PDS free, ending PMGKAY

If PMGKAY was continued beyond December 2022, at least Rs 40,000 crore would have got spent for three months (Jan to March)

Fiscal consolidation risks

Food distribution decision will be tough to reverse

Centre makes PDS free for 810 mn people; annual outlay likely at Rs 2 trn

Govt merges certain benefits of PMGKAY into PDS

PM Modi to take call on extending PMGKAY beyond Dec: MoS Shobha Karandlaje

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take a call on extending the PMGKAY scheme to provide free ration to the poor beyond December, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje said on Thursday said stressing that the government has sufficient foodgrains stock. If Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) has to be extended, the decision will be taken by the Cabinet, headed by the prime minister. The Cabinet meeting is scheduled on Friday. In September, the government had extended PMGKAY for three months till December 31. "Covid-19 cases are coming. The scheme is till December. ...After that, the decision (on extending it) will be taken by the prime minister," Karandlaje, Minister of State for Agriculture, told reporters. In last 28 months, the government has spent Rs 1.80 lakh crore on distribution of free ration to the poor under PMGKAY, she said. The government has sufficient foodgrains stock to meet the requirement under the food security law and other welfare schemes, she added. The

Centre set to offer wheat to millers, biscuit makers to tame prices: Report

Wheat prices have surged in India this year after a sudden rise in temperatures hit crop yields and output

Govt seeks approval for Rs 4.36 trillion additional spending in FY23

Fertiliser, food subsidies, payments to OMCs for LPG dominated supplementary demand

PMGKAY likely to end in December on fiscal, foodgrain constraints

"The food subsidy burden is already crossing Rs 3 trillion and we are hopeful that it will be brought down below that mark," said a senior government official

Cut I-T, review capital gains tax in Budget 2023-24: CII to govt

FM Nirmala Sitharaman's pre-Budget consultations from today

India opposes group consultation on food subsidies programme at WTO

The members had expressed concern with India's "lack of full transparency" in taking recourse to the Bali Decision as well as in replies to certain questions raised in the Agri Committee

Best of BS Opinion: Extension of PMGKAY, convergent growth, and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Centre extends free food grain scheme till Dec at a cost of Rs 45k cr

Move to cost the exchequer additional Rs 44,762 crore

FinMin opposed extension of PMGKAY a day ahead of Cabinet approval

Office memorandum flagged fiscal concerns due to impact of Ukraine war on fuel prices. With Covid-19 having largely subsided, reasons for which earlier extensions were given no more seem to hold

Fate of world's biggest free food programme rests in PM Modi's hands

PM Modi will soon decide whether to extend a food dole out that has cost India $44 billion since the pandemic, or ease the strain on government finances and food supply

Dept of Expenditure warns against extending the free food scheme: Report

In an internal note, the FinMin's Dept of Expenditure has warned that extension of the free food scheme beyond September or any more tax cuts will have consequences for the Centre's fiscal situation

Delhi HC sets aside AAP government's doorstep ration delivery scheme

Court said the Delhi govt is free to bring another doorstep delivery scheme but it cannot use grains provided by the Centre for this doorstep scheme

Centre releases Rs 2.94 trn to FCI, states as food subsidy last fiscal

The Centre has released Rs 2,94,718 crore towards food subsidy during the last fiscal to Food Corporation of India (FCI) and states, which is slightly higher than the revised budget estimates. During the financial year 2021-22, the Department of Food & Public Distribution released Rs 2,94,718 crore towards food subsidy, under both DCP (decentralised procurement) and non-DCP operations put together, against the revised Estimates of Rs 2,92,419.11 crore. "This release of food subsidy is about 140% of the food subsidy released during 2020-21 and about 267 per cent of the food subsidy released during 2019-20," an official statement said. The subsidy has been released for procurement operations under MSP (minimum support price) and seamless distribution of foodgrains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and National Food Security Act 2013 (NFSA). In the last fiscal, the department spent 99.83 per cent of its expenditure by incurring Rs 3,04,361 crores against net .

India's poor deprived in more ways than one, but state count misses that

Income, consumption or lack of "capabilities": what makes a person poor in India?