<p>The Centre on Thursday decided to make available an additional 50 lakh tonne foodgrain to 6.52 crore families below the poverty line (BPL) during the current financial year.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Various state governments would have to lift the additional allocation of foodgrain before March 31, 2014, or till they implement the National Food Security law.<br /><br />The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved a proposal of the Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs to make the additional allocation, which is expected to cost the exchequer Rs 9,471 crore.<br />The additional foodgrain would be made available to states at subsidised prices of Rs 5.65 per kg of rice and Rs 4.15 per kg of wheat.<br /><br />Delhi, Uttarkhand and Haryana have begun implementing the new food security law, which aims to provide legal right to subsidised foodgrain to nearly 67 per cent of the state’s population.<br /><br />The Centre has been making the additional allocations of wheat and rice to states for distribution to the BPL families since 2010-11 given that the foodgrain stock in its warehouses is sufficient.<br /><br />As of September 1, foodgrain stock in the government godowns was around 59 million tonnes (mt), which includes 38.3 mt of wheat and 20.5 mt of rice.<br /><br />For above poverty line (APL) families, the government had, in May, allocated 6 mt of extra foodgrain for this fiscal. <br /><br />In June, the government approved the sale of 10.5 mt of foodgrain in the open market to check rising prices.<br /></p>
<p>The Centre on Thursday decided to make available an additional 50 lakh tonne foodgrain to 6.52 crore families below the poverty line (BPL) during the current financial year.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Various state governments would have to lift the additional allocation of foodgrain before March 31, 2014, or till they implement the National Food Security law.<br /><br />The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved a proposal of the Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs to make the additional allocation, which is expected to cost the exchequer Rs 9,471 crore.<br />The additional foodgrain would be made available to states at subsidised prices of Rs 5.65 per kg of rice and Rs 4.15 per kg of wheat.<br /><br />Delhi, Uttarkhand and Haryana have begun implementing the new food security law, which aims to provide legal right to subsidised foodgrain to nearly 67 per cent of the state’s population.<br /><br />The Centre has been making the additional allocations of wheat and rice to states for distribution to the BPL families since 2010-11 given that the foodgrain stock in its warehouses is sufficient.<br /><br />As of September 1, foodgrain stock in the government godowns was around 59 million tonnes (mt), which includes 38.3 mt of wheat and 20.5 mt of rice.<br /><br />For above poverty line (APL) families, the government had, in May, allocated 6 mt of extra foodgrain for this fiscal. <br /><br />In June, the government approved the sale of 10.5 mt of foodgrain in the open market to check rising prices.<br /></p>
