NAC recommends food subsidy for 75 per cent of India's population

The National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi has recommended provision of subsidised food for about 75 per cent of the country's population.

The draft proposals, finalised today, wants the government to ensure supply of wheat at Rs2 per kg and rice at Rs3 per kg to around 800 million people.

The draft proposals, to be included in the food security bill to be introduced in Parliament, aims at ensuring subsidised grains to 90 per cent of the rural and 50 per cent of the urban population in the country.

The NAC has also recommended a reorganisation of the public distribution system (PDS) network in the country by the coming financial year (2011-12), in order to facilitate the supply of subsidised food.

The NAC has recommended replacement of the below poverty line entitlement under the current PDS with a differential legal entitlement for foodgrain quota.

It has suggested two broad categories - priority and general - that are eligible for legal foodgrain entitlement under the proposed Food Security Act.
    
Those under the 'priority' category will be eligible for a monthly quota of Rs35 kg foodgrains at a subsidised price of Re1 per kg for millets, Rs2 per kg for wheat and Rs3 per kg for rice.
    
The 'general' category will be entitled to a monthly quota of 20 kg of foodgrains at a price not exceeding 50 per cent of the minimum support price (MSP) the government offers for procurement.
     
"Starting from the top we have decided to knock off 15 per cent of the most affluent section from the rural areas and 60 per cent from the urban areas and including the rest under the food security net," Narendra Jadhav, member of the NAC said after the sixth meeting of the Council.