Center for Policy Research, which is one of India’s leading public policies think tanks since 1973 in a report titled, Food Subsidy and the National Food Security Act (NFSA) GoI, 2022-23 reported that the percentage of foodgrains distributed out of offtake was lower in Nagaland (69 per cent), despite lifting 100 per cent or more of the allocated food grains under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) III and IV as of December 2021. This was in comparison to other states like Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Odisha whose offtake distribution were above 95 per cent.
Food Subsidy is provided by the Government of India (GoI) for the supply and distribution of foodgrains and other essential commodities. With the passing of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in 2013, nutritional security became a right.
Provisions under NFSA
NFSA legally entitled 75 per cent of the rural and 50 per cent of the urban population to receive subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
The report states that, there are two categories of people receiving subsidized grains: a) Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) which constitutes poorest of the poor entitled to 35 kgs of foodgrains per family, per month, and b) Priority House Holds (PHH) identified by states entitled to 5 kgs per person, per month.
Under NFSA, foodgrains are to be made available at a subsidized rate of Rs.3 per kg for rice, Rs.2 per kg for wheat, and Rs.1 per kg for coarse grains to all PHH and AAY households.
As per the report, food subsidy is the largest scheme of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (MoCAF&PD).
For the Financial Year (FY) 2022-23 Budget Estimates (BEs), it was reported that GoI allocated Rs. 2,17,684 crore to MoCAF&PD. This was 28 per cent less from the previous year’s Revised Estimates (REs) and 15 per cent less than the BEs.
This, as per the report is despite the fact that allocations of foodgrains increased significantly in FY 2020-21 and FY 2021-22 owing to the additional allocations made under PMGKAY and other pandemic relief measures.
As of November 2021, the coverage of eligible beneficiaries under NFSA (calculated using projected populations for 2021) was 87 per cent.
What is PMGKAY?
On 26 March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, GoI announced the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which provided 5 kgs of rice or wheat to eligible people, free of cost. This was in addition to the regular quota of foodgrains.
After initially being implemented for a period of three months from April 2020 to June 2020 (PMGKAY-I), the scheme was later extended till November 2020 (PMGKAY-II).
In FY 2021-22, the scheme was restarted for a two-month duration in May and June 2021 (PMGKAY-III) and then continued for a five-month period till November 2021 (PMGKAY-IV). A fifth phase of the scheme was announced for an additional four-month period, from December 2021 to March 2022.
How does Nagaland procure the foodgrain?
There are two main types of procurement of foodgrains: the Centralized Procurement System (CPS) and the Decentralized Procurement System (DCP).
At present, Nagaland falls under CPS where the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is responsible for procurement, storage, transportation, and bulk allocations of foodgrains to the state governments. The operational responsibility, such as allocations within the state and UTs, identification of eligible families, issuance of ration cards, and supervision of Fair Price Shops (FPS), rests with individual state governments.
How is the food subsidy distributed?
Distribution of foodgrains to eligible people is done through a network of Fair Price Shops (FPS), which are licensed to distribute foodgrains and essential commodities to all ration card holders under the TPDS.
State-wise variations in offtake and distribution of foodgrains under PMGKAY-III and IV were recorded. Both offtake and distribution for states like Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Odisha were above 95 per cent.
But the percentage of foodgrains distributed out of offtake was lower in Nagaland (69 percent) and Uttarakhand (49 per cent), despite both states lifting 100 per cent or more of the allocated foodgrains.