The Union government has warned the State that it would “substantially” cut its rice supply under above poverty line (APL) quota if the number of BPL beneficiaries - which has rose to over 73 lakh - is not brought down.
“If the Centre reduces the rice supply under APL category, we may, in turn, be forced to cut the quantity of rice being supplied to ration card holders in the State,” Chief Secretary P B Mahishi has stated in a letter, a copy of which is available with Deccan Herald, written to Food and Civil Supplies department recently.
False claims
Mahishi, in the three-page letter, has directed the department to take all possible measures to weed out “false claims” of being BPL. “It is very clear from the records that number of claims for BPL is not factual... Majority of them are false claims,” he has stated in the letter.
The department has identified 73.29 lakh BPL beneficiaries in the State, which is double than what Union Planning Commission’s figure of 31 lakh. The Centre provides rice at Rs 5.65 per kg and wheat at Rs 4.15 per kg for BPL beneficiaries. But the State is supplying both rice and wheat at just Rs 3 per kg, by subsidising it. For APL, the Centre is charging Rs 8.30 per kg of rice and Rs 6.10 per kg of wheat, while the State is supplying at Rs 9 per kg and Rs 6.70 per kg of rice and wheat.
Why cut in APL? “Because the Centre has been allocating subsidised food grain for only 31 lakh BPL card holders (based on the Planning Commission’s data). To ensure that the remaining 43 lakh BPL beneficiaries in the State also get subsidised food grain, the State government has been lifting its quota of ration allotted under APL category and supplying it to BPL beneficiaries (by giving a subsidy of Rs 5.30 per kg of rice and Rs 2.10 per kg of wheat),” officials said.
The State has been lifting its full quota of food grain under APL, despite the Centre being aware of the fact that majority of APL beneficiaries are not procuring food grains under PDS. “With the number of BPL beneficiaries increasing further recently, the Centre is planning to cut into the APL quota, which is actually supporting BPL beneficiaries,” sources said.
According to the Chief Secretary’s letter, the Centre is planning to cut APL quota by 80 per cent. “If this happens, the State Government will have to reduce the quantity of food grain supplied by at least 10 kg per ration card,” official sources added.