New Delhi: Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday said 75 crore beneficiaries under the public distribution system will be allowed to lift their quota of subsidised foodgrains for six months in one go, amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Currently, beneficiaries are lifting grains in advance for maximum two months, while the Punjab government is already distributing six-month quota in one go, he said.
"We have enough foodgrains in our godowns. We have asked state governments and Union Territories to distribute six-month quota of grains to the poor in one go," Paswan told PTI.
Against the backdrop of rising coronavirus infections, the decision seeks to ensure that poor people have enough foodgrains in the event of possible restrictions that could lead to difficulty in getting the supplies.
The Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said the lifting of more grains in one go will ease pressure on central storage as some quantity of wheat is kept in the open.
The government has surplus foodgrains of 435 lakh tonne as of now, of which 272.19 lakh tonne is rice and 162.79 lakh tonne is wheat, he said.
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The PDS requirement for April is about 135 lakh tonne of rice and 74.2 lakh tonne of wheat, the minister said adding the government has enough supply to meet the demand and states can lift the quota in advance.
Paswan said the Centre has issued an advisory to state governments for taking necessary safety measures to manage the crowd at ration shops in view of the COVID-19 outbreak.
At present, the government supplies 5 kilograms of subsidised foodgrains per month to each beneficiary under the PDS through 5,00,000 ration shops in the country. This costs the exchequer about Rs 1.4 lakh crore annually.
Foodgrains via ration shops are supplied at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 3/kg for rice, Rs 2/kg for wheat and Rs 1/kg for coarse grains under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
The Centre is closely monitoring the prices of soaps, floor cleaners and thermal scanners because of surge in demand of these items amid growing coronavirus cases in the country, added Paswan.
Normally, the Consumer Affairs Ministry keeps track of prices of 22 essential commodities. Recently, the ministry included face masks and hand sanitizers under the Essential Commodities Act.
"We are monitoring prices of three more products -- soap, floor and hand cleaners like Lizol and Dettol as well as thermal scanners whose demand has gone up because of coronavirus scare," Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Paswan told PTI.
The prices of these products will be monitored from 114 centres across the country.
Paswan said the government will bring these three products under the Essential Commodities Act if their prices shoot up from the level which prevailed in the last six months.
Hand sanitizers and face masks are now essential items, and stringent action will be taken against those hoarding and black marketing these products, he added.
The minister said the government will monitor more products in the coming days if prices go up substantially.
The 22 commodities which the government monitors includes five items groups -- food grains (rice, wheat, atta), pulses (gram, tur, urad, moong, masur), edible oils (groundnut oil, mustard oil, vanaspati, soya oil, sunflower oil, palm oil), vegetables (potato, onion, tomato) and other items (sugar, gur, milk, tea, salt).
According to Paswan, there is high awareness about COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak among people, and the severity of outbreak in India is less as compared with other countries.
Also Read: Coronavirus: Govt Notifies Hand Sanitizers, Surgical Masks, Gloves As Essential Commodities
"There is no need to panic, although we need to follow all precautionary measures to protect ourselves," he said.
At Shastri Bhawan here, where Paswan's office is housed, the minister has installed hand sanitizer dispenser at entry and exit gates. Thermal scanning of visitors is also been done.
(PTI)