MUMBAI: With the rise in Maharashtra’s population, the state government has requested the Centre to increase foodgrain allocation under the public distribution system (PDS) to cover the higher number of potential beneficiaries. “The population of the state was around 1.13 million then and has now crossed 1.27 million,” said an official from the food and civil supplies department.
The government is also mulling a revision in the eligibility parameters, from the existing annual income ceiling of ₹46,000 and ₹59,000 for rural and urban families respectively to ₹1.5 lakh and ₹1.8 lakh. The ceiling was fixed in 2013 under the National Food Security Act, and the government believes it is time to correct it.
Over 71.6 million people from 17.1 million families in rural and urban areas get rice and wheat at a nominal price of ₹3 per kilo and ₹2 per kilo a month. The state government gets a monthly quota of 3,83,000 metric tonnes free of cost from the central government although it bears the cost of transportation and warehousing. Of the beneficiaries, 95% of the families lift the ration regularly.
Meanwhile, the per capita income too has increased significantly since 2013, and the state government has undertaken a drive to weed out an expected five million ineligible beneficiaries on account of their increased income and other criteria. “With the increase in the income ceiling, we can accommodate about seven million new beneficiary families,” said the official.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the per capita income too has increased significantly since 2013, and the state government has undertaken a drive to weed out an expected five million ineligible beneficiaries on account of their increased income and other criteria. “With the increase in the income ceiling, we can accommodate about seven million new beneficiary families,” said the official.
{{/usCountry}}The proposal to increase the income limit is expected to come up before the cabinet in the next couple of weeks. “A committee under rationing controller Chandrakant Dange recommended an increase in the income cap,” said another official from the department. “We are also studying the annual income cap in other states such as Gujarat, Karnataka and Delhi. The cabinet will take the final call on the income cap.”
In the existing list of beneficiaries, 46.97 million or 54.32% are from the rural parts, while 45.34% or 23.04 million are from the urban areas.
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