May 3: Union food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Monday replied to the Opposition demand for universalisation of the public distribution system in the country.
He informed the Rajya Sabha that cheap food grains to all families would mean unsustainable annual food subsidy, which is presently Rs 65,000-70,000 crores. “If we universalise the public distribution system, the government will have to procure 70 million tonnes, which has never been done. It never went beyond 54 million tonnes,” Mr Pawar said in the Rajya Sabha. This year the government has almost procured 54 million tonnes, which is a record, he stated.
Replying to a discussion on the working of his ministry, Mr Pawar said food subsidy which used to be Rs 18,000-Rs 19,000 crore has gone up to Rs 70,000 crores.
“The demand is that we should not raise the issue price for the APL (Above Poverty Line) families, but cover them under universalisation of the PDS,” he said.
He also informed the Rajya Sabha that government had made all efforts to bring down prices of essential commodities.