Foodgrain under the National Food Security Act is currently sold at a highly subsidised price. All of this will be free from 1 January onwards.
The Modi government’s decision to rejig its food subsidy burden under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) is not only a fiscally prudent decision, but also stands to deprive states of some political capital, according to government officials and economists.
Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal had announced Friday the Cabinet’s decision that subsidised foodgrain provided under the NFSA would be provided free for a year starting from 1 January 2023.
The foodgrain under the scheme is currently sold at the highly subsidised price of Rs 3 per kg for rice, Rs 2 per kg for wheat, and Rs 1 per kg for coarse grains. Under the scheme, 5 kg food grains per person is provided to Priority Households (PHH) beneficiaries and 35 kg per household to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) beneficiaries, who constitute the ‘poorest of the poor’. All of this will be free from 1 January onwards.
TCA Sharad Raghavan 