The Indian government is sitting on one of world's biggest hoards of food grains. As food grain stocks keep piling up, hunger and malnutrition continue to haunt a quarter of the population - over 200 million people. Why can't it be distributed to the millions who need it?
The government insists that it can only distribute food grain through its targeted public distribution system (TPDS), fixed amounts, at low prices to those below poverty line (BPL), and at higher prices to those above poverty line (APL). The number of BPL families is based on projection for the year 2000 based on the 1991 Census. So their figures are off. The poverty line itself is a matter of serious dispute because it is pegged at a meager Rs. 18 in urban areas and Rs. 12 in rural areas per person per day. Many families that are technically above the poverty line are actually so poor that they can't afford the wheat and rice offered by the government at Rs 6.10 and Rs 8.30 per kilogram respectively. The most obvious solution is distribution to everybody. The government, however, is not comfortable with this idea. And so, the warehouses will remain full.
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