New Delhi: The One Nation-One Ration Card scheme across the country has brought a lot of relief to the poor, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar said.

Through Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana, the Central Government has provided free food grains to the poor, worth Rs 3.90 lakh crore, the minister said, adding that “under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government has made a record purchase of Rs 2.75 lakh crore on MSP in 2021-22.”

Tomar added that the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana was 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.

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“In March 2020, the government announced the distribution of additional free-of-cost foodgrains (Rice/Wheat) to about 80 Crore National Food Security Act (NFSA), Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) & Priority Households (PHH) beneficiaries at the scale of 5 Kg per person per month under the PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PM-GKAY), under which 1118 LMT foodgrains have been allocated to States/UTs so far, with an expenditure of over Rs.3.90 lakh crore. The 7th Phase (October-December, 2022) of PMGKAY is ongoing in the States/UTs,” he said.

The minister added that various schemes including One Nation-One Ration Card, distribution of fortified rice, targeted public distribution and other schemes of the Center are being extended to all the beneficiaries. “Starting with portability among 4 states in August 2019, the scheme has been rolled out in all 36 States/UTs till now, which includes about 80 crore NFSA beneficiaries i.e. about 100 percent of the country’s NFSA population.”

“Since the launch of the ONORC scheme in Aug-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,” he said.

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He added that in order to increase the nutritional value of rice and its scope, the announcement was made by the Prime Minister on the 75th Independence Day (15 August 2021) 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 tons of fortified rice has been distributed.”

The minister said that 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. Under the reform of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), 100 percent NFSA ration card/beneficiary data has 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.”

Tomar added that more than 99.5 per cent ration cards are linked with Aadhaar (at least one member of the household). 99.8% (5.33 lakh out of 5.34 lakh) Fair Price Shops are being automated with the use of electronic point-of-sale devices for transparent, assuring distribution of subsidized food grains to the beneficiaries.

He said that 339.88 LMT paddy (227.82 LMT in case of rice) has been procured at MSP during Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2022-23 up to 4th December 2022 at a cost of Rs. 70,000 crores, benefitting 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 percent in the procurement price in eight years (now the total value is about Rs 1.5 lakh crore).”

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The minister added that 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 percent increase). In eight years, there has been an increase of 152 percent in the purchase price (now the total price is about Rs. 85 thousand crore).”

Tomar said 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 7 states during the year,” he added.

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