Food Inflation

MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION 

UNSTARRED

QUESTION NO . 37 

 ANSWERED ON 01.08.2011

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state :-

(a) whether food inflation is still on the rise across the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether hike in petrol, diesel and LPG prices are likely to further increase pressure on prices of household articles including food items; and

(d) if so, the steps proposed to be taken by Government?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(PROF. K. V. THOMAS)

(a) & (b): No Sir. The WPI based primary food articles inflation rate (%) after having reached a peak of 21.85% in the month of February, 2010 had declined to 10.66% in the month of April, 2011 and further to 8.38% for the month of June, 2011.

(c) : A hike in petrol, diesel and LPG prices is likely to have an indirect impact on prices of household articles including food items.

(d) : The steps already taken by the Government to contain food inflation are given in Annexure I. 

Twitter Link To This Post
Facebook Link To This Post

YS Chowdary Facebook
YS Chowdary Twitter
YS Chowdary Blog
YS Chowdary Wikipedia
 

SC Directive On Food Grains Distribution

MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION 

STARRED

QUESTION NO . 15 

ANSWERED ON 01.08.2011

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state :-
(a) whether the Supreme Court has issued any directive to release foodgrains to prevent starvation deaths and malnutrition;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the action taken/proposed to be taken by Government to implement the directive?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(PROF. K.V. THOMAS)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF THE STARRED QUESTION NO. 15 DUE FOR ANSWER 01.08.2011 IN THE RAJYA SABHA.
(a) to (c): In the Writ Petition (Civil) No.196 of 2001 – PUCL v/s UOI & Others on Right to Food, the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in its order dated 14.5.2011 has directed that as a one-time measure, it is absolutely imperative in the larger public interest, to reserve 5 million tons of food grains for distribution to the 150 poorest districts or the extremely poor and vulnerable sections of our society. The Central Vigilance Committee on Public Distribution System (CVC on PDS) headed by Justice (Retd.) D.P. Wadhwa has been requested by the Hon’ble Supreme Court to identify the poorest districts or poorest segments of society and ensure that additionally allocated food grains reach this segment from time to time.
2. Pursuant to the above orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the recommendations received from the CVC on PDS, additional allocation of 2,57,336.67 M.Ts of rice and wheat have been allocated for three months to 45 districts in the States of Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Manipur, Haryana, J&K and Rajasthan on 21st July 2011.



Twitter Link To This Post
Facebook Link To This Post

YS Chowdary Facebook
YS Chowdary Twitter
YS Chowdary Blog
YS Chowdary Wikipedia

Wastage Of Foodgrains

MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

UNSTARRED

QUESTION NO .2923

ANSWERED ON 20.08.2010

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTIONbe pleased to state :- 

(a) whether there is acute shortage of storage of foodgrains, pulses and oil seeds across the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the details of foodgrains procured from farmers during last three years;

(d) the details of foodgrains rotted/ wasted due to rain/floods during last three years; and

(e) the action taken by Government to avoid wastage of foodgrains? 

 
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(PROF. K.V. THOMAS)

(a): There is a shortage of covered godowns for the storage of foodgrains in the country, against stock of 544.30 lakh tonnes foodgrains in the Central Pool as on 1st August, 2010, the covered space available with FCI and State agencies was 426.37 lakh tonnes. However, wherever there is shortage of covered space, stocks are kept in scientific Cover and Plinth (CAP).

(b): The State wise details given in the Annexure -I.

(c): The details of procurement of foodgrains during the last three years are as under:-
Wheat Figures in Lakh MTs YEAR (RMS) Quantity 2008-09 226.89 2009-10 253.82 2010-11 225.25

(as on 31.07.2010) YEAR (KMS) Quantity 2007-08 287.36 2008-09 336.84 2009-10 304.27

(as on 16.8.2010) Coarse-grains Year Jowar Bajra Maize Ragi Total
2007-08 0.01 1.24 0.68 0.11 2.04 2008-09 0.52 3.18 9.94 0.12 13.76 2009-10

(as on 13.08.10) 0.006 0.77 3.28 0.003 4.06

(d) : The details of foodgrains that has become non-issuable in the FCI godowns during the last three years are given in the statement at Annexure-II.

(e): The Government has taken following steps to avoid wastage of foodgrains:-

(i) Adequate dunnage material, covers and chemicals are provided in all the godowns.

(ii) Prophylactic and curative treatments are carried out regularly and timely for the control of insects pests and rodents.

(iii) Food grains stored in ‘Cover and Plinth’ (CAP) are on elevated plinths and wooden crates are used as dunnage material. Stacks are properly covered with black polythene water proof covers and tied with nylon ropes/nets.

(iv) Regular inspections of the stocks/ godowns are undertaken by qualified and trained staff of FCI.

(v) The principle of “First-In-First-Out” (FIFO) is followed so as to avoid longer storage of food grains in godowns.

Twitter Link To This Post
Facebook Link To This Post

YS Chowdary Facebook
YS Chowdary Twitter
YS Chowdary Blog
YS Chowdary Wikipedia