Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution K V Thomas has said that food production in the country would be normal this year.
Briefing newspersons after inaugurating the Food Corporation of India (FCI) regional and district office building at Food Storage Depot in Egmore, he said data sourced from the department of Agriculture revealed that the forthcoming monsoon would be normal between Calicut in Kerala and northern parts of the country. Henceforth, there would be no cut in food production for this year, he added.
The estimated food production, which includes rice, wheat and millets, is expected around 240 million tonnes, though the requirement is 62 million tonnes.
Speaking about the proposed Food Security Bill, the minister said that about 82 crore people in India would be covered under the bill. “Besides, 2.5 crore beneficiaries of Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme would provided with 35 kilograms of rice, as per the revised proposal. The bill is under discussions in the Lok Sabha,” he said.
Stating that the Food Security Bill comprises several salient features, he said, subsidy for beneficiaries would be directly credited in the bank accounts of Aadhar card holders.
Asked about apprehensions raised by State Government about the bill, Thomas said, his ministry was ready to address all the issues, soon after the bill is passed in the Parliament.
Earlier, addressing the gathering on the occasion, the minister said that the number of ration cards have come down to 16 crore from 22 crore, following the modernisation of Public Distribution System (PDS) in the country.
A press release said that FCI’s Tamil Nadu region meets the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) by inducting 3.36 lakh metric tonnes of food grains every month.
