Government to release 2.5 million tonnes of food grain for poor

New Delhi: An empowered group of ministers (EGoM) decided on Thursday to release additional 2.5 million tonnes of food grain to the states. The decision comes after the Supreme Court directed the government to distribute food grain among the poor instead of letting it rot.

The move, however, is unlikely to make any material difference to the stocks, which had reached a peak of more than 58 million tonnes at the end of June.  Of these, around 16 million tonnes are lying under the open sky for lack of warehouses. The release of additional 2.5 million tonnes will increase the yearly allocation to the states by 5%.

“The government is considering an overhaul of PDS [public distribution system], including upgrade of the number of eligible BPL families. This is expected to increase the number of BPL families eligible for assistance and corresponding increase in allocation by the central government. As an interim measure, the government is releasing 2.5 million tonnes of wheat and rice to the states,” food minister Sharad Pawar said.