December 8, 2023
Saket Gokhale’s supplementary question during Question Hour on the reasons some states rejected foodgrains being distributed under PMGKAY and the steps undertaken to address this issue
Sir, first of all, I would like to express my gratitude to you. Today, we saw you protecting a Member and actually putting a question to the Minister. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to you for the way you protected the Member. A lot of States, especially during COVID-19 and even after that, have rejected dal and other grains that come under the PMGKAY. Sir, through you, my question to the hon. Minister is: What were the reasons for States rejecting food grains that come under this Yojana and what steps have been taken to ensure that high quality food is now being supplied to different States under this scheme? Sir, Tamil Nadu is one example. What had happened was that after food grains were rejected, they went to NAFED. They instituted a committee. After that, NAFED changed the procurement process where out of 100 per cent that is given by millers, 70 per cent is taken and the OTR lower limit was removed. That is why I would request the hon. Leader of the House to kindly let the Minister, under whose jurisdiction it is, to respond because he does not seem to be aware of the facts.
