New Delhi:

The Government has restored wheat allocations under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)—the free food scheme for the poorest—starting from October until March after a gap of more than two years.

A total of 3.5 million tonnes of wheat has been allocated.

In May 2022, the government reduced wheat allocations to 10 states under the National Food Security Act, 2013, saying lower productivity and reduced procurement had impacted budgetary provisions.

The 10 states –  Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu – account for 67% or 551 million of the 813 million poorest who are the beneficiaries covered under the NFSA.

The government had stopped giving wheat under the scheme, switching to rice instead. Now, those beneficiaries who were getting only rice, will get wheat too.

“The Centre has decided to allocate 3.5 million tonnes of wheat to beneficiaries of the PMGKAY under the NFSA. This will be in addition to the existing annual allocation of 18.4 million tonnes,” said Sanjeev Chopra, secretary, department of food and public distribution.

He was briefing reporters on the ministry’s achievements in the first 100 days of the new government. The Goverment has restored wheat allocations.

Wheat availability

Chopra said the decision was made because of the availability of a sufficient quantity of wheat in the country.

“Roughly, 10 million tonnes of wheat are available with traders in the country, which is higher compared to the same time last year,” he said.

Under the scheme, each beneficiary gets 5kg of rice or wheat in a month, and the restriction on wheat was lifted with an eye on the coming festive season.

Food security

The PMGKAY was launched during the pandemic and has been extended to ensure food security for the poor.

This free food grain scheme covers about 820 million people, providing essential items like wheat, rice, and coarse grains through the public distribution system (PDS).

The official also gave some assurances on the prices of essential commodities during the festive season starting in October.

“The prices of edible oils will not increase by more than 20% as global prices have started softening,” he said.

Other commodities

The government has recently imposed a 20% import duty on edible oil, which had led to speculation about a potential price hike.

Regarding the lifting of the export ban on non-basmati and parboiled rice, Chopra said the decision is still under consideration.

In the first 100 days of this government, he said, grain silos with a total capacity of 300,000 tonnes were added at six locations. The food department plans to develop silos with a total capacity of 11.1 million tonnes under the hub and spoke model, with tenders awarded for 3.4 million tonnes in Phase I.

Currently, 2.1 million tonnes of silo capacity is operational, with 750,000 million tonnes under construction, he said.

The department has also approved a new Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS-NPF) to boost confidence among lenders, encouraging them to extend pledge finance against electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (e-NWRs) for produce stored in WDRA-registered warehouses.

“The scheme covers both lending and warehousemen risks and aims to enhance trust in warehousemen, increasing post-harvest finance through e-NWRs. It is projected to raise pledge finance from ₹3,962 crore to Rs1.05 trillion over the next 10 years,” he said.

Kharif Marketing Season

For the Kharif Marketing Season 2024-25 (KMS 2024-25), the Centre has set a target to procure 1.9 million tonnes of coarse grains or millets. During KMS 2023-24, the total procurement of coarse grains reached 1.2 million tonnes, marking a 170% increase compared to KMS 2022-23 and the highest procurement in the past decade.

Ethanol production capacity has also expanded significantly to 16.2 billion litres, against the 100-day target of 16 billion litres.

For the current Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2023-24 (November-October), 13.59% ethanol blending has been achieved, with 5 billion litres of ethanol blended as of 31 August, he said.

The Department of Consumer Affairs has sold a total of 7,047 metric tonnes of onions at a discounted rate of ₹35/kg as of 17 September. The initiative, launched on 6 September to curb rising onion prices, involves selling onions through various retail stores and vans operated by NCCF and NAFED across several cities, including Delhi and Mumbai.