GANDHINAGAR, FEB 2
The Gujarat government on Wednesday fixed the price of toor or arhar dal (pigeon pea) distributed at subsidised rate under the public distribution system (PDS) at Rs 50 per kg to avoid uncertainty over its regularly changing cost.
Government spokesperson and Education Minister Jitu Vaghani said availability of toor dal at a fixed cost at fair price shops under the PDS will protect beneficiaries from frequent rate fluctuations of the key pulse.
‘ખુશહાલ ખેડૂત, સમૃદ્ધ ગુજરાત’ ની નેમ સાથે મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રી ભુપેન્દ્ર પટેલના દિશાનિર્દેશ હેઠળ રાજ્ય સરકાર દ્વારા લઘુત્તમ ટેકાના ભાવથી તુવેર, ચણા અને રાયડાની ખેડૂતો પાસેથી સીધી ખરીદીનો શુભારંભ. pic.twitter.com/YQk91UVb00
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) February 2, 2022
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel also decided to increase the rate of commissions paid to fair price shop owners for distribution of different food items to beneficiaries through the PDS under the National Food Security, 2013, said Vaghani.
રાજ્ય સરકાર દ્વારા વ્યાજબી ભાવના દુકાન સંચાલકોને મોટી રાહત – પંડિત દીનદયાળ ઉપાધ્યાય ગ્રાહક ભંડારના સંચાલકોને આપવામાં આવતા કમિશનના દરમાં ધરખમ વધારો કરવાનો મુખ્યમંત્રી ભુપેન્દ્ર પટેલનો મહત્વપૂર્ણ નિર્ણય. pic.twitter.com/izEtbnvYs5
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) February 2, 2022
A total of 70 lakh ration card holding families receive food items such as wheat, rice, pulses, salt, sugar and edible oils at subsidised rates through a network of around 17,000 fair price shops in the state under the NFS Act.
રાજ્યના ગરીબ અને સામાન્ય પરિવારના 70 લાખથી વધુ NFSA કાર્ડ ધારક પરિવારોને ₹50/કિલોના ફિક્સ ભાવે તુવેર દાળ વિતરણનો મુખ્યમંત્રી શ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્ર પટેલનો જનહિતકારી નિર્ણય. pic.twitter.com/QSEc5bUrTM
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) February 2, 2022
Each beneficiary family is entitled to one kg per month of toor, which is supplied to the state government through the Centre’s National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), he said.
Price of toor dal was changing every three to four months, Vaghani said.
”To avoid uncertainty over price of toor and to keep it constant for beneficiaries under the scheme, the government has decided to fix its price under the PDS at Rs 50 per kg which will be implemented from next month,” the minister said.
As a result, an additional subsidy of Rs 11 crore will be incurred every month, adding an annual burden of Rs 120 crore on the government, he said.
The state government has also decided to increase the rate of commissions paid to fair price shop owners for distribution of different food items to beneficiaries, Vaghani said.
Commission to the owners on every quintal of wheat and rice distributed through Pandit Deendayal Grahak Bhandar (consumer) shops has been raised from Rs 90 to Rs 150; on toor it has been hiked from Rs 1.92 per kg to Rs 3 per kg; on salt from Rs 125 to Rs 150 and on edible oil from Rs 2 to Rs 5 on every one litre pouch, he said.
The new commissions will come into effect from January 1, 2022, and add a financial burden of Rs 31 crore during the current financial year and Rs 130 crore during the next fiscal, the government spokesperson said.
The decision has been taken in response to submissions made by an association of fair price shop owners.
