States can directly buy rice from FCI, says Food Minister
- Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi announced recently that the States can directly purchase rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI)
Highlights:
- This direct procurement by the states from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) would happen under the Open Market Sale Scheme (Domestic) without participating in e-auction.
- According to the Centre, the decision was taken to reduce the huge surplus stocks ahead of the procurement after this kharif season.
- The States wanted to procure more rice over the stipulated five kg of free grain per individual under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)
- The Centre will directly offload rice to the States under the scheme.
- Speaking on the PMGKAY, Mr. Joshi maintained that the Centre would continue to provide free foodgrains to about 81.35 crore beneficiaries for a period of five years with effect from January 1, 2024
- The Centre had successfully completed all three phases of replacing custom-milled rice with fortified rice in every scheme of the government.
- It achieved 100% coverage of distribution of fortified rice by March 2024.
- A 4.0 version of the Price Monitoring System (PMS) mobile app was also launched, on which prices of 22 commodities were monitored daily.
- Now, prices of 38 commodities will be monitored.
Prelims Takeaway
- PMGKAY