The Planning Commission has put up a difficult poser before an empowered group of ministers (EGoM) on food security suggesting to do away with the above poverty line (APL) category under the public distribution system (PDS).
Presenting another difficult choice as part of the PDS revamp, the plan panel has alternatively suggested increasing the issue price of food grains for the APL category and making it compatible with the market price.
Seized with the issue of enhancing the ambit of the proposed food security bill, which aims to cover the BPL population and reform the inefficient PDS, the EGoM will now have to take a call on the two suggestions.
The EGoM on food, headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, is scheduled to meet on June 25. Sources said both the suggestions are loaded with political implications and have the potential to create discord among the middle class APL card holders, who would not like either to be deleted from the list of PDS beneficiaries or pay more for their monthly food grain quota.
At present, around 11.5 crore APL families get subsidised wheat and rice under the PDS besides the 6.5 crore BPL families households. The central issue price for both the categories is different though.
Initially, the draft bill was worked keeping in mind only for the 6.5 cr BPL families. But, following the directive of the NAC chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the core issue for the EGoM is to cover vulnerable sections of society including women, destitute and the elderly in order to extend the food security umbrella to a largest possible number of the poor population.
According to the sources, the plan panel has worked out fresh estimates of the BPL families. This will lead to an increase in the count of the beneficiaries of the proposed food security bill. Though the move will increase the government’s food subsidy bill, sources said managing additional finances should not be a problem.