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A meeting of the State Food Ministers scheduled for October 28, 2004 will consider the recommendations of State Food Secretaries meet held on September 17 on strengthening of Public Distribution System. The main items in the agenda for meeting included identification of beneficiaries, making fair price shops viable and the monitoring mechanism and related policy and implementation matters. The Meeting will be Chaired by Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Consumers Affairs, Food & Public Distribution.
The meeting of Food Secretaries had recommended a reconsideration of the criteria for classification of families under Below Poverty Line (BPL) section by the Planning Commission to redetermine BPL estimate of all States. Another recommendation which emerged at the Conference was to issue ration entitlement authority slips to families at the risk of hunger, the migrant labour or displaced persons or homeless population for the purpose of issuing foodgrains through Fair Price Shops. A macro level planning was also recommended for ensuring food security for otherwise inaccessible areas for the vulnerable population.
In order to improve the viability of ration cards, it was recommended that these shops should be allowed to function as STD booths, LPG/Kerosene oil dealers or distribution agents of other public utility items. Besides, cooperatives of women and ex-servicemen should be given priority in the matter of allotting fair price shop licenses. Measures suggested to make ration shops viable also included treating of fair price shops as priority sector lending for bank credit, besides making them eligible for retail commission from the Central Government.
Decentralised procurement of foodgrains was recommended for making the public distribution system most cost effective and to cater to local taste. Fair price shops are also to be requested to publicise information about scale of issue, price of foodgrain, availability etc. at Central, State and District levels at fair price shops.
To prevent diversion of foodgrains from fair price shops to open market, the meeting of Food Secretaries suggested making timely supply of foodgrains for the targeted public distribution system in all States and Union Territories. The meeting also felt the need for convergence of all food-based welfare schemes and poverty alleviation programmes at the level of Central Government to avoid duplication of efforts and diversion of foodgrains from its authorized use
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