नई दिल्‍ली। देश की गरीब जनता  के लिए भूखमरी  से उबारने के लिए गठित किए गए फूड कारपोरेशन ऑफ इंडिया के  भ्रष्‍टाचार के  भेंट चढ़ जाने पर अंत्‍योदेय योजना चलाने वाले भाजपा के वरिष्‍ठ नेता शांता कुमार ने अब इस एफएसआई की पुनर्संचना  करने की सिफारिशकी है।मोदी सरकार के  सता में आने पर  मोदी  ने शांता कुमार को केबिनेट में शामिल नहीं किया। लेकिन एफसीआई को लेकर एक हाई पावर लेवल कमेटी का गठन कर उसकी कमान शांता कुमार को सौंप दी। शांता कुमार कमेटी ने जो सिफारिशें है वो निजी  क्षेत्र के वारे न्‍यारे करनी वाली है। वामपंथियों ने शांता कुमार कमेटी की रिपोर्ट का विरोध कर दिया है।

शांता कुमार कमेटी की रिपोर्ट के सिफारिशं पढ़े यहां

Reorienting the Role and Restructuring of  Food Corporation of India (FCI)

 

II.  Major Recommendations of HLC:

 

Below  is  a  summary  of  major  recommendations  of  HLC  keeping  in  mind  how  procurement benefits can reach larger number of farmers; how PDS system can be re-oriented to give better deal  to  economically  vulnerable  consumers  at  a  lower  cost  and  in  a  financially  sustainable manner;  and  finally  how  stocking  and  movement  operations  can  be  made  more  efficient  and cost effective in not only feeding PDS but also in stabilizing grain markets.

 

 

On procurement related issues

 

  HLC recommends  that  FCI  hand  over  all  procurement  operations  of  wheat,  paddy  and rice  to  states  that  have  gained  sufficient  experience  in  this  regard  and  have  created reasonable  infrastructure  for  procurement.  These  states  are  Andhra  Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Punjab (in alphabetical order). FCI will  accept  only  the  surplus  (after  deducting  the needs  of  the  states  under  NFSA) from these state governments (not millers) to be moved to deficit states. FCI should move on to help those states where farmers suffer from distress sales at prices much below MSP,and  which  are  dominated  by  small  holdings,  like  Eastern  Uttar  Pradesh,  Bihar,  West Bengal, Assam etc. This is the belt from where second green revolution is expected, and where  FCI  needs  to  be  pro-active,  mobilizing  state  and  other  agencies  to  provide benefits  of  MSP  and  procurement  to  larger  number  of  farmers,  especially  small  and marginal ones.

  DFPD/FCI  at  the  Centre  should  enter  into  an  agreement  with  states  before  every procurement  season  regarding  costing  norms  and  basic  rules  for  procurement.  Three issues are critical to be streamlined to bring rationality in procurement operations and bringing back private sector in competition with state agencies in grain procurement: (1) Centre should make it clear to states that in case of any bonus being given by them on top  of  MSP,  Centre  will  not  accept  grains  under  the  central  pool  beyond  the  quantity needed  by  the  state  for  its  own  PDS  and  OWS;    (2)  the  statutory  levies  including commissions,  which  vary  from less  than  2 percent  in  Gujarat and  West  Bengal to  14.5 percent  in  Punjab,  need  to  be  brought  down  uniformly  to  3  percent,  or  at  most  4 percent of MSP, and this should be included in MSP itself (states losing revenue due to this  rationalization  of  levies  can  be  compensated  through  a  diversification  package  for the  next  3-5  years);  (3)  quality  checks  in  procurement  have  to  be  adhered  to,  and anything  below  the  specified quality  will  not be acceptable  under  central  pool.  Quality checks  can  be  done  either  by  FCI  and/or  any  third  party  accredited  agency  in  a transparent manner with the help of mechanized processes of quality checking. HLC also recommends  that  levy  on  rice  millers  be  done  away  with.    HLC  notes  and  commends that some steps have been taken recently by DFPD in this direction, but they should be institutionalized for their logical conclusion.

 

  Negotiable warehouse receipt system (NWRs) should be taken up on priority and scaled up  quickly.  Under  this  system,  farmers  can  deposit  their  produce  to  the  registered warehouses, and get say 80 percent advance from banks against their produce valued at MSP. They can sell later when they feel prices are good for them. This will bring back the private  sector,  reduce  massively  the  costs  of  storage  to  the  government,  and  be  more compatible  with  a  market  economy.   GoI  (through  FCI  and  Warehousing  Development Regulatory Authority (WDRA)) can encourage building of these warehouses with better technology, and keep an on-line track of grain stocks with them on aily/weekly basis. In due  course,  GoI  can  explore  whether  this  system  can  be  used  to  compensate  the farmers  in  case  of  market  prices  falling  below  MSP  without  physically  handling  large quantities of grain.

 

  GoI needs to revisit its MSP policy. Currently, MSPs are announced for 23 commodities,but  effectively  price  support  operates  primarily  in  wheat  and  rice  and  that  too  in selected  states.  This  creates highly  skewed  incentive  structures  in  favour  of  wheat  and rice.  While  country  is  short of  pulses  and  oilseeds  (edible  oils),  their  prices  often  go below  MSP  without  any  effective  price  support.    Further,  trade  policy  works independently of MSP policy, and many a times, imports of pulses come at prices much below  their  MSP.  This  hampers  diversification.  HLC  recommends  that  pulses  and oilseeds  deserve  priority  and  GoI  must  provide  better  price  support  operations  for them, and dovetail their MSP policy with trade policy so that their landed costs are not below their MSP.

 

On PDS and NFSA related issues

 

  HLC  recommends  that  GoI  has  a  second  look  at  NFSA,  its  commitments  and implementation. Given that leakages in PDS range from 40 to 50 percent, and in some states go as high as 60 to 70 percent, GoI should defer implementation of NFSA in states that  have  not  done  end  to  end  computerization;  have  not  put  the  list  of  beneficiaries online for anyone to verify, and have not set up vigilance committees to check pilferage from PDS.

 

  HLC  also  recommends  to  have  a  relook  at  the  current  coverage  of  67  percent  of population;  priority  households  getting  only  5  kgs/person  as  allocation;    and  central issue  prices  being  frozen  for  three  years  at  Rs  3/2/1/kg  for  rice/wheat/coarse  cereals respectively.  HLC’s  examination  of  these  issue  reveals  that  67  percent  coverage  of population is on much higher side, and should be brought down to around 40 percent, which  will  comfortably  cover  BPL  families  and  some  even  above  that;  5kg  grain  per person to priority households is actually making BPL households worse off, who used to get 7kg/person under the TPDS. So, HLC recommends that they be given 7kg/person. Oncentral issue prices, HLC recommends while Antyodya households can be given grains at Rs  3/2/1/kg  for  the  time  being,  but  pricing  for  priority  households  must  be  linked to MSP,  say  50  percent  of  MSP.  Else,  HLC  feels  that  this  NFSA  will  put  undue  financial burden  on  the  exchequer,  and  investments  in  agriculture  and  food  space  may  suffer. HLC would recommend greater  investments in agriculture in stabilizing production and building efficient value chains to help the poor as well as farmers.

  HLC  recommends  that  targeted  beneficiaries  under  NFSA  or  TPDS  are  given  6  months ration  immediately  after  the  procurement  season  ends.  This  will  save  the  consumers from  various  hassles  of  monthly  arrivals  at  FPS  and  also  save  on  the  storage  costs  of agencies. Consumers can be given well designed bins at highly subsidized rates to keep the rations safely in their homes.

 

  HLC recommends gradual introduction of cash transfers in PDS, starting with large cities with more than 1 million population; extending it to grain surplus states, and then giving option  to  deficit  states  to  opt  for  cash  or  physical  grain  distribution.  This  will  be  much more  cost  effective  way  to  help  the  poor,  without  much  distortion in  the  production basket, and in line with best international practices. HLC’s calculations reveal that it can save the exchequer more than Rs 30,000 crores annually, and still giving better deal to consumers. Cash transfers can be indexed with overall price level to protect the amount of  real  income  transfers,  given  in  the  name  of  lady  of  the  house,  and  routed  through Prime  Minister’s  Jan-Dhan  Yojana  (PMJDY)  and  dovetailing  Aadhaar  and  Unique Identification  (UID)  number. This  will  empower  the  consumers,  plug  high  leakages  in PDS, save resources, and it can be rolled out over the next 2-3 years.

 

On stocking and movement related issues

  HLC recommends that FCI should outsource its stocking operations to various agencies such  as  Central  Warehousing  Corporation,  State  Warehousing  Corporation,  Private Sector  under  Private  Entrepreneur  Guarantee  (PEG)  scheme,  and  even  state governments that are building silos through private sector on state lands (as in Madhya Pradesh).  It  should be  done  on  competitive  bidding  basis,  inviting  various  stakeholders and creating competition to bring down costs of storage.

 

  India  needs  more  bulk  handling  facilities  than  it  currently  has.  Many  of  FCI’s  old conventional  storages  that  have  existed  for  long  number  of  years  can  be  converted  to silos with the help of private sector and other stocking agencies. Better mechanization is needed in all silos as well as conventional storages.

 

  Covered  and  plinth  (CAP)  storage  should  be  gradually  phased  out  with  no  grain  stocks remaining  in  CAP  for  more  than  3  months.  Silo  bag  technology  and  conventional storages where ever possible should replace CAP.

 

  Movement of grains needs to be gradually containerized which will help reduce transit losses, and have faster turn-around-time by having more mechanized facilities at railway sidings.

On Buffer Stocking Operations and Liquidation Policy

 

  One of the key challenges for FCI has been to carry buffer stocks way in excess of buffer stocking  norms.  During  the  last  five  years,  on  an  average,  buffer  stocks  with  FCI  have been  more  than  double  the  buffer  stocking  norms  costing  the  nation  thousands  of crores  of  rupees  loss  without  any  worthwhile  purpose  being  served.  The  underlying reasons  for  this  situation  are  many,  starting  with  export  bans  to  open  ended procurement  with  distortions  (through  bonuses  and  high  statutory  levies),  but  the  key factor is that there is no pro-active liquidation policy. DFPD/FCI have to work in tandem to liquidate stocks in OMSS or in export markets, whenever stocks go beyond the buffer stock norms. The current system is extremely ad-hoc, slow and costs the nation heavily. A transparent liquidation policy is the need of hour, which should automatically kick-in when  FCI  is  faced  with  surplus  stocks  than  buffer  norms.  Greater  flexibility  to  FCI  with business orientation to operate in OMSS and export markets is needed.

On Labour Related Issues

  FCI engages large number of workers (loaders) to get the job of loading/unloading done smoothly and in time. Currently there are roughly 16,000 departmental workers, about 26,000 workers that operate under Direct Payment System (DPS), some under no work no pay, and about one lakh contract workers. A departmental worker (loader) costs FCI about Rs 79,500/per month (Apri-Nov 2014 data) vis-a-vis DPS worker at Rs 26,000/per month and contract labour costs about Rs 10,000/per month. Some of the departmental labours (more  than  300)  have  received  wages  (including  arrears)  even  more  than  Rs  4 lakhs/per  month  in  August  2014.  This  happens  because  of  the  incentive  system  in notified  depots,  and  widely  used  proxy  labour.  This  is  a  major  aberration  and  must  be fixed,  either  by  de-notifying  these  depots,  or  handing  them  over  to  states  or  private sector on service contracts, and by fixing a maximum limit on the incentives per person that will not allow him to work for more than say 1.25 times the work agreed with him. These  depots  should  be  put  on  priority  for  mechanization  so  that  reliance  on departmental  labour  reduces.  If  need  be,  FCI  should  be  allowed  to  hire  people  under DPS/NWNP  system.  Further,  HLC  recommends that  the  condition  of  contract  labour, which  works  the  hardest  and  are  the  largest  in  number,  should  be  improved  by  giving them better facilities.

 

On direct subsidy to farmers

  Since  the  whole  system  of  food  management  operates  within  the  ambit  of  providing food security at a national as well as at household level, it must be realized that farmers need  due  incentives  to  raise  productivity  and  overall  food  production  in  the  country.  Most  of  the  OECD  countries  as  well as  large  emerging  economies  do  support  their farmers.  India  also  gives  large  subsidy  on  fertilizers  (more  than  Rs  72,000  crores  in budget of FY 2015 plus pending bills of about Rs 30,000-35,000 crores).  Urea prices are administered  at  a    very  low  level  compared  to prices  of  DAP  and  MOP,  creating highly imbalanced  use  of  N,  P  and  K.  HLC  recommends  that  farmers  be  given  direct  cash subsidy (of about Rs 7000/ha) and fertilizer sector can then be deregulated. This would help plug diversion of urea to non-agricultural uses as well as to neighbouring countries,and help raise the efficiency of fertilizer use. It may be noted that this type of direct cashsubsidy to farmers will go a long way to help those who take loans from money lenders at exorbitant interest rates to buy fertilizers or other inputs, thus relieving some distress in the agrarian sector.

 

On end to end computerization

  HLC  recommends  total  end  to  end  computerization  of  the  entire  food  management system,  starting  from  procurement  from  farmers,  to  stocking,  movement  and  finally distribution through TPDS. It can be done on real time basis, and some states have done a  commendable  job  on  computerizing  the  procurement  operations.  But  its  dovetailing with movement and distribution in TPDS has been a weak link, and that is where much of the diversions take place.

On the new face of FCI

  The  new  face  of  FCI  will  be  akin  to  an agency  for  innovations  in  Food  Management System with a primary focus to create competition in every segment of foograin supply chain,  from  procurement  to  stocking  to  movement  and  finally  distribution  in  TPDS,  so that  overall  costs  of  the  system  are  substantially  reduced,  leakages  plugged,  and  it serves  larger  number  of  farmers  and  consumers.  In  this  endeavour  it  will  make  itself much  leaner  and  nimble  (with  scaled  down/abolished  zonal  offices),  focus  on  eastern states  for  procurement,  upgrade  the  entire  grain  supply  chain  towards  bulk  handling and  end  to  end  computerization  by  bringing  in  investments,  and  technical  and managerial  expertise  from  the  private  sector.  It  will  be  more  business  oriented  with  a pro-active  liquidation  policy  to  liquidate  stocks  in  OMSS/export  markets,  whenever actual  buffer stocks  exceed the  norms.  This  would  be challenging,  but  HLC  hopes  that FCI can rise to this challenge and once again play its commendable role as it did during late 1960s and early 1970s.

 

एफसीआई के गठन की पृष्‍ठभूमि  जाने यहां

   Backdrop:

 

  Government of India (GoI) set up a High Level Committee (HLC) in August 2014 with Shri Shanta Kumar as the Chairman, six members and a special invitee (listed in Annexure 1)to  suggest restructuring  or  unbundling  of  FCI  with  a  view  to  improve  its  operational efficiency and financial management. GoI also asked HLC to suggest measures for overall improvement  in  management  of  foodgrains by  FCI;  to  suggest  reorienting  the  role  and functions  of  FCI  in  MSP  operations,  storage  and  distribution  of  foodgrains  and  food security  systems  of  the  country;  and  to  suggest  cost  effective  models  for  storage  and movement  of  grains  and integration  of  supply  chain  of  foodgrains  in  the  country(detailed ToR contained in Annexure 1).

 

  The  HLC  had  wide  consultations  with  various  stakeholders  in  its  several  meetings  in different  parts  of  the  country  (listed  in Annexure 2).  It  also  invited  comments  through advertisements  in  newspapers  and  electronic  media.  HLC  would  like  to  gratefully acknowledge that it has benefitted immensely from this consultative process, and many of its recommendations are based on very intensive discussions with stakeholders.

 

  In order to conceive reorienting the role of FCI and its consequent restructuring, one has to revisit the basic objectives with which FCI was created, and what was the background of food situation at that time. It is against that backdrop, one has to see how far FCI has achieved  its  objectives,  what  is  the  current  situation  on  foodgrain  front,  what  are  the new challenges with regard to food security, and how best these challenges can be met with a reoriented or restructured institution like FCI.

 

  FCI was set up in 1965 (under the Food Corporation Act, 1964) against the backdrop of major  shortage of  grains,  especially  wheat,  in the  country.  Imports  of  wheat under  PL- 480 were as high as 6-7 MMT, when country’s wheat production hovered around 10-12 MMT, and country did not have enough foreign exchange to buy that much quantity of wheat  from  global  markets.  Self-sufficiency  in  grains  was  the  most  pressing  objective,and  keeping  that  in  mind  high  yielding  seeds  of  wheat  were  imported  from  Mexico.

Agricultural Prices Commission was created in 1965 to recommend remunerative prices to farmers, and FCI  was mandated with three basic objectives:  (1) to provide effective price  support  to  farmers;  (2)  to  procure  and  supply  grains  to  PDS  for  distributing subsidized  staples  to  economically  vulnerable  sections  of  society;  and  (3)  keep  a strategic reserve to stabilize markets for basic foodgrains.

 

  How  far  FCI  has  achieved  these  objectives  and  how  far  the  nation  has  moved  on  food security front?  The NSSO’s (70th round) data for 2012-13  reveals that of all the paddy farmers  who  reported  sale  of  paddy  during  July-December  2012,  only  13.5  percent farmers  sold  it  to  any  procurement  agency  (during  January-June  2013,  this  ratio  for paddy  farmers  is  only  10  percent),  and  in  case of  wheat  farmers  (January-June,  2013),only 16.2  percent farmers sold to any procurement agency. Together, they account for only 6 percent of total farmers in the country, who have gained from selling wheat and paddy  directly  to  any  procurement  agency.  That  diversions  of  grains  from  PDS amounted to 46.7 percent in 2011-12 (based on calculations of offtake from central pool and  NSSO’s  (68th  round)  consumption  data  from  PDS);  and  that  country  had  hugely surplus grain stocks, much above the buffer stock norms, even when cereal inflation was hovering  between  8-12  percent  in the  last  few  years.  This  situation  existed  even  after exporting more than 42 MMT of cereals during 2012-13 and 2013-14 combined, which India has presumably never done in its recorded history.

 

  What  all  this  indicates  is  that  India  has  moved  far  away  from  the  shortages  of  1960s,into  surpluses  of  cereals  in  post-2010  period,  but  somehow  the  food  management system,  of  which  FCI  is  an  integral  part,  has  not  been  able  to  deliver  on  its  objectives very efficiently. The benefits of procurement have not gone to larger number of farmers beyond  a few  states,  and  leakages  in  TPDS  remain  unacceptably  high.  Needless to  say, this  necessitates  a  re-look  at  the  very  role  and  functions  of  FCI  within  the  ambit  of overall food management systems, and concerns of food security.

 

 

Post Views: 582