The National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by Sonia Gandhi,
has continued to grapple with differing views on the quantum of food
grains that need to be procured to support the food security plan for
poor.
The fifth meeting of the NAC saw presentations made by
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and top
government officials dealing with food security and child welfare.
Ahluwalia offered to step up gradually the procurement of foodgrains to
about 70 million tonnes to meet the requirements desired by the Council.
A section of the NAC wanted the procurement target to be raised
substantially at the earliest. "There is still no consensus on the issue
of procurement of foodgrains," a NAC member said.
The total foodgrain production (rice and wheat) in the country ranges between 170-180 million
tonnes of which the government procures 53-58 million tonnes annually to
meet the requirements of its various schemes.
Kiran Dhingra, Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, who made a
presentation before the NAC, is understood to have favoured a wait and
watch approach till the S R Hashim Committee submits its report on
methodology to identify urban poor.
Another opinion was charging of differential rates for foodgrains for BPL and Above Poverty Line (APL)
families. A suggestion was made that the APL category could be charged 50
per cent of the minimum support price for foodgrains as against Rs three
per kg for BPL families.
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