Niti Aayog should step in, says Raje

Jaipur: Chief minister Vasundhara Raje has sought the intervention of NITI Aayog after the state and the Centre differed on the percentage of population to be covered under targeted public distribution system (TPDS) of National Food Security Act.

The chief minister in a letter to NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya said that the percentage of population to be covered under the TPDS in Rajasthan is 69.09% for rural area and 53% for urban area. She argued that the numbers and percentage limits fixed for rural Rajasthan are much lower than required.

Quoting a comparative analysis of other states, she stated that many states, socially and economically better off than Rajasthan have larger percentage of the population covered under the scheme in rural areas. For instance, states such as Gujarat (74.64%), Karnataka (76.04%), Maharashtra (76.32%) Tamil Nadu (82.55%) have much higher percentage fixed in rural areas.

Similarly, states generally clubbed with Rajasthan on social and economic parameters such as Madhya Pradesh (80.1) Uttar Pradesh (79.56%), West Bengal (74.47%) Chhattisgarh (84.25%) and Bihar (85.12% of the population) pegged in rural areas under TPDS is much higher than Rajasthan.

The chief minister said this matter has been raised before by the state government officials in the review meeting held on August 26 last yearThe National Food Security Act aims to cover 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population for the purpose of subsidized food. Applying these percentages to the population as per 2011 Census will yield 624.8 million people in rural areas and 188.6 million people in urban areas. That is 67.2% of the total population.

The Central government had adopted a percentile formula for identifying the beneficiaries. The level of per capita consumption expenditure that corresponds to 75th percentile in rural areas and 50th percentile in urban areas has been derived from the all India distribution of monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE). This works out to be Rs 1,483 in rural areas and Rs 1,904 in urban areas.

.Jaipur: Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje has sought the intervention of the NITI Ayog after State and Centre differed on the percentage of population to be covered under targeted public distribution system (TPDS) the National Food Security Act.

The chief minister in a letter to NITI Ayog Vice chairman Dr Arvind Panagariya said the percentage of population to be covered under the TPDS in Rajasthan is 69.09 for rural area and 53% for urban area. She argued that the numbers and percentage limits fixed for rural Rajasthan is much lower than required.

Quoting a comparative analysis of other states, she stated that many states socially and economically better off than Rajasthan have larger percentage of the population covered under the scheme in rural areas. For instance states such as Gujarat (74.64%), Karnataka (76.04%), Maharashtra (76.32%) Tamil Nadu (82.55%) has much higher percentage fixed in rural areas.

Similarly states generally clubbed with Rajasthan on social and economic parameters such as Madhya Pradesh (80.10) Uttar Pradesh (79.56%, West Bengal (74.47%) Chhattisgarh (84.25%) Bihar (85.12%) of the population pegged in rural areas under TPDS is much higher than Rajasthan.

The chief minister said this matter has been raised before by the state government officials in the review meeting held on August 26 last year and with the Union Food and Consumer Affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan on April this year during his visit to Jaipur. The minister agreed with the assertions made by the state and directed that an appropriate communication be sent to the ministry so that facts and weightage of each factors used to ascertain these percentages could be examined. The state government has promptly acted on the direction of the Union Minister.

The National Food Security Act aims to cover 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population for the purpose of subsidized food. Applying these percentages to the population as per 2011 census will yield 624.8 million people in rural areas and 188.6 million people in urban areas. That is 67.2% of the total population.

The central government had adopted a percentile formula for identifying the beneficiaries. The level of per capita consumption expenditure that corresponds to 75th percentile in rural areas and 50th percentile in urban areas has been derived from the all India distribution of monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE). This works out to be Rs 1483 in rural areas and Rs 1904 in urban areas.

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