26.14 LMT coarse grains would be procured in KMS 2023-24

Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Piyush Goyal Wednesday appreciated the efforts of the State and UT governments for procuring and distribution of foodgrains and said that all the States/UTs should work together with the Centre in the spirit of cooperative federalism. Union government projected that 26.14 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of coarse grains would be procured in Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2023-2024, while the expected distribution would be 22.31 LMT.

He said this while chairing the ‘National Conference of Food Ministers of States/UTs’ organised by the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) in New Delhi. During the conference, Goyal launched a new Sugar-Ethanol portal. He urged all States/UTs to submit their pending claims on dues with the Union government expeditiously so that they can be settled at the earliest.

In the presentation, the Department highlighted the reforms in procurement of foodgrains which is key to providing food security and stability to domestic prices of foodgrains. A demonstration of the Automated Multi-Commodity Grain Dispensing Machine - ‘Annapurti’ - developed by the UN World Food Programme (UN-WFP) and Automatic Grain Analysers developed for automated quality checking of grains was held at the conference.

A millet exhibition showcasing various millet products was also held on the side-lines of the event. A comprehensive strategy to increase the procurement of coarse grains was discussed and formulated. This strategic focus on coarse grains/millets reflects a broader objective to strengthen the nutritional security of the beneficiaries.

Some of the other topics discussed extensively during the conference included grading of procurement centres to ensure uniformity and quality, effective implementation of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), implementation of the SMART–PDS scheme for end-to-end computerisation of procurement and distribution of foodgrains, transformation of Fair Price Shops (FPS), action plan for the implementation of Route Optimisation study to bring down the distance involved in intra-State distribution, and diversification of food basket through distribution of coarse grains/millets.

The conference was graced by Union Ministers of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Ashwini Kumar Choubey, 17 Food Ministers and officials from 35 States/UTs and officials of the Department of Food and Public Distribution, Govt of India, an official release said.