19.79 cr ration cards digitized under the Public Distribution System
Author: BI Bureau
New Delhi: All 19.79 crore ration cards issued under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) as on date have been digitized under the Public Distribution System reforms and all the States and UTs have developed their transparency portal or PDS portal too, said Union Minister of State for Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha recently.
Under the Public Distribution System (PDS) reforms, nearly 100 per cent automation of Fair Price Shops (FPSs) has also been achieved, that is, nearly 5.33 lakh out of 5.34 lakh FPSs by installing electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) devices at FPSs for biometric authentication of beneficiaries and electronic capturing of transaction data, to ensure rightful targeting of NFSA beneficiaries.
Around 95 per cent of total allocated foodgrains across the country are being distributed through these ePoS devices, post biometric or Aadhaar authentication of beneficiaries. The government has approved the supply of fortified rice throughout the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and in Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) of Government of India in all States and UTs by 2024, in a phase-wise manner.
At present 27 States and UTs are distributing fortified rice through TPDS. As on March 5, 2023, approximately 95.72 lakh metric ton (LMT) of fortified rice has been distributed through TPDS under Phase-II. Nearly 100 per cent FPS are having electronic-Point of Sales (e-PoS) devices for Aadhaar authenticated distribution of foodgrains to rightful beneficiaries of National Food Security Act (NFSA). /BI/
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The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores.
As the economy comes to a standstill amid the coronavirus-led lockdown, India’s agriculture sector has taken the baton of economic growth in its hands. The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores, according to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The government said that self-reliant agriculture is critical for the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat and for this, agricultural export is extremely important as besides earning foreign exchange for the country, the exports help farmers, producers, and exporters to take advantage of the wider international market and increase their income.
The surge in exports has also resulted in increased production in the farm sector by increasing coverage area and productivity. The share of India’s agricultural exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2017 was 2.27 percent and 1.90 percent, respectively. Even during the difficult time of pandemic lockdown, India took care not to disturb the world food supply chain and continued to export, the government said.
Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a comprehensive action plan for the promotion of Agri trade; the twofold approach focuses on boosting Agri Export with emphasis on value addition and action plan for Import Substitution. Recently, the Agriculture sector has witnessed a series of reforms, giving more choices to the farmers to sell their produce at competitive rates.
To mention a few, the Export strategy focuses on the export promotion of fast-evolving niche markets of Wellness food/ Health-conscious food/nutraceuticals, Development of “Brand India” in campaign mode to help penetration into new foreign markets and of new products which automatically translates into higher value realization, Gulf countries have been identified as focus destination to increase the market share which is a strong market for India though presently India caters to only 10-12% share of their total imports. A product-market matrix has been made containing a list of products of strength that could be expanded in new geographies and a list of known markets which can be introduced with newer products.
At the behest of the Department of Agricultural Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, product-specific Export Promotion Forums have been created to lead Agri exports to new heights. Each Export Promotion Forum shall be having exporters of the related commodity as its members along with official members representing concerned Ministries/Departments of the Central and State Governments. Chairman APEDA shall be the chairman of each of these forums. The forums will meet at least once every two months, to discuss recommendations on issues pertaining to the export.
The recommendations of the forum will be placed in the product committee / Authority of APEDA. The Forum will keep in close contact with the concerned organization of the Ministry of Agriculture such as MIDH, Extension, NPPO, etc., DGFT, Ministry of Civil Aviation, MoFPI, etc. to further the interest of agricultural export.
