Yasha Sharma,Bhopal,March 28, Madhya Pradesh government has made Rs 20 crore allocation in next year’s budget to compensate losses in running of fair price shops by cooperative societies. The government has decided to hand over the charge of fair price shops to Gram Panchayats at the places where cooperative societies are not running them in proper manner. This information has been given by Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Minister Shri Akhand Pratap Singh. He said that the government would ensure that ration shops are given to other committees and jobless educated youth also. Women would also be benefited due to 50 percent reservation and people belonging to backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes would also get a chance to run fair price shops. According to the Food Minister, this system would put an effective and constant check on black marketing also.
Shri Akhand Pratap Singh said that a provision of Rs 160 crore has been made in the budget for the year 2008-09 for giving Rs two per kilogramme subsidy on wheat and rice which are being supplied to BPL families at the rates of Rs five and Rs 6.50 per kilogramme at present. He informed that the Central Government is supplying 67 thousand 500 metric tonnes less food grains for the BPL families despite demand raised repeatedly by Madhya Pradesh government due to which Madhya Pradesh government is finding it tough to supply to poor people the allotted quota of food grains fixed by the Union government. The Union government has not increased the quota despite repeated requests. The lifting of BPL wheat quota in the state was 51 percent in the year 2000-01 which rose to 70 percent in the year 2002-03 and has gone up to cent percent in the year 2007-08. Similarly, lifting of rice quota for BPL families was 64 percent in the year 2000-01, 54 percent in the year 2002-03 and has risen to 96 percent in the year 2007-08.
Giving information about Antodaya Anna Yojana, he said that under this scheme, lifting of wheat quota was 72 percent in 2000-01, 94 percent in 2002-03 and it has gone up to cent percent in the year 2007-08. Similarly, lifting of rice quota was 89 percent in the year 2000-01, 96 percent in the year 2002-03 and has risen to cent percent in the year 2007-08. the state government is reimbursing income/expenditure on supply of wheat and rice at the rate of Rs two and three respectively under Antodaya Anna Yojana. For this, budgetary provision to the tune of Rs eight crore 95 lakh was made in the year 2002-03 which has been enhanced to Rs 55 crore for the year 2008-09.
According to Shri Akhand Pratap Singh, there are 20 thousand 311 government fair price shops in the state. New ration cards were made in the year 2006-07 out of which 81 lakh 46 were APL, 45 lakh 44 thousand BPL and 15 lakh 79 Antodaya Anna Yojana ration cards. There are 22 thousand 29 Gram Panchayats in the state. The population of 55 thousand villages in the state is four crore 43 lakh 81 thousand.