New Delhi
Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the ambitious scheme of One Nation-One Ration Card (ONORC) across the country has brought a lot of relief to the poor.
Tomar said that through Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY), the Central Government had provided free food grains to the poor, worth Rs 3.90 lakh crore. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government made a record purchase of Rs 2.75 lakh crore on MSP in 2021-22.
Referring to the achievements related to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Agriculture, Tomar said that the PMGKAY had been launched to ameliorate the hardships faced by the poor due to economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to minimize its impact on food security.
The Modi Government had announced in March 2020 the distribution of additional free-of-cost foodgrains (rice/wheat) to about 80 crore National Food Security Act (NFSA), Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH) beneficiaries at 5 kg per person per month under the PM-GKAY. 1,118 LMT foodgrains have been allocated to States/UTs so far under this scheme, with an expenditure of over Rs 3.90 lakh crore. The 7th phase (October-December 2022) of PMGKAY is ongoing in the States/UTs.
Tomar informed that various schemes, including ONORC, distribution of fortified rice, targeted public distribution and other schemes of the Centre were being extended to all the beneficiaries.
Giving details about the progress of the ONORC scheme, he said that starting with portability among four states in August 2019, till now the scheme had been rolled out in all 36 States/UTs, which included about 80 crore NFSA beneficiaries, i.e., about 100 per cent of the country's NFSA population. Since the launch of the scheme in August 2019, more than 93 crore portability transactions have been registered under the scheme, in which more than 177 LMT food grains have been distributed.
During the year 2022, 39 crore portability transactions were done in 11 months, in which more than 80 LMT food grains have been distributed including inter-state and intra-state portability transactions of NFSA and PMGKAY.
Tomar said that in order to increase the nutritional value of rice and its scope, the announcement had been made by the Prime Minister on the 75th Independence Day to provide nutrition by providing fortified rice under all government schemes. The implementation of the first phase covering ICDS, PM Poshan in the States/UTs started in FY 2021-22. Under ICDS and PM Poshan, 17.51 lakh metric tonnes of fortified rice has been distributed.
The implementation of the second phase started from April 2022. States have taken 16.79 LMT rice. The implementation of the third phase will start from the year 2023-24, in which some remaining districts of the country will also be covered.
Tomar said that under the reform of the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), 100 per cent NFSA ration card/beneficiary data had been digitized in all States/UTs. Details of 19.5 crore ration cards covering about 80 crore beneficiaries are available on the transparency portal of the States/UTs.
The Minister informed that 339.88 LMT paddy (227.82 LMT in case of rice) had been procured at MSP during Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2022-23 up to 4 December 2022 at a cost of Rs 70,000 crore, benefiting 30 lakh farmers. While paddy procurement in Kharif was 475 LMT in 2013-14, this has increased to 759 LMT in 2021-22 (an increase of 60%). There has been an increase of 132 per cent in the procurement price in eight years (now the total value is about Rs 1.5 lakh crore).
At the same time, during the Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2022-23, 187.92 LMT wheat has been procured, benefiting about 17 lakh farmers, with an MSP of about Rs 38 thousand crore. Rabi procurement was 251 LMT in 2013-14, which has increased to 433.44 LMT in 2021-22 (73 per cent increase). In eight years, there has been an increase of 152 per cent in the purchase price (now the total price is about Rs. 85 thousand crore).
Tomar informed that the total procurement of food grains (including wheat, paddy and pulses) was 759.44 lakh tonnes in the year 2014-15, which has increased to 1345.45 lakh tonnes in 2021-22. Similarly, in 2014-15, the expenditure in terms of MSP value and total procurement was Rs 1.06 lakh crore, which increased to Rs 2.75 lakh crore in 2021-22 under the Modi government.
In the year 2015-16, 78.3 lakh farmers were benefited from the procurement of food grains, which increased to 194 lakh (number of farmers) in the year 2021-22. Similarly, 13 lakh tonnes of coarse grains have also been procured in seven states during the year.
Tomar said that the Indian sugar industry was an important agro-based industry, involving 5 crore sugarcane farmers. Today the annual production of the Indian sugar industry is about Rs 1,40,000 crore. In the sugar season 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, 6.2 LMT, 38 LMT and 59.60 LMT of sugar has been exported respectively. About 70 LMT has been exported against the target of 60 LMT in the sugar season 2020-21. In the sugar season 2021-22, India has exported more than 110 LMT of sugar and has become the largest producer and second-largest exporter of sugar in the world.
As a result of the measures taken by the Government, till 29 November 2022, out of total cane price arrears of Rs 1,18,271 crore for the sugar season 2021-22, Rs 1,14,981 crore has been cleared to the farmers. Thus, more than 97 per cent of cane arrears have been cleared.
Regarding the ethanol blending plan in petrol, Tomar said that the government had set a target of 10 per cent blending of fuel-grade ethanol with petrol by 2022 and 20 per cent blending by 2025. The existing capacity of ethanol production in the country (till 31 October 2022) has jumped to 925 crore litres.