Non-Congress-ruled states insist that they are being discriminated against on the key issue of food subsidy.
Non-Congress states, including UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Punjab, have been demanding the numbers of below poverty line (BPL) persons g
etting subsidised ration under the targeted public distribution system (TPDS) be increased substantially. Among the seven states, who demanded that the Centre hike their BPL count, only Maharashtra is ruled by the Congress-NCP alliance. While Bihar and Punjab have sought to more than double the number of their BPL count from 65.23 lakh to 140 lakh and from 4.68 lakh to 14.50 lakh respectively, Karnataka wanted an over 100 per cent hike from 31.29 lakh to 63 lakh.
Gujarat has demanded an increase from 21.2 lakh to 26 lakh, Madhya Pradesh from 41.25 lakh to 60 lakh, Maharashtra from 65.34 lakh to 71.34 lakh and UP from 106.79 to 117.39 lakh in their BPL foodgrain tally.
Under the TPDS, the government makes allocations of foodgrains at 35 kg per family per month at subsidised prices for distribution to 6.52 crore BPL families which includes Antyodaya Anna Yojana families.
“These norms are being uniformly applied in all states and UTs. Hence, the government did not accept the states’ request to increase their foodgrains quota for BPL families,” said a senior official in the food ministry. While the Planning Commission has put a cap of 6.52 crore for the BPL list under the PDS, the states have already issued around 10.5 crore ration cards.