New Delhi, September 06: The Centre refrained from committing itself on the issue of providing free foodgrains to the poor but assured the Supreme Court that it was taking steps to provide wheat and rice at cheap prices to the poorest of the poor.
Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General told a Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma that the government had no intention of going into a “confrontation” with the judiciary and scotched speculation in a section of the media.
“It is respectfully submitted that the central government allocates foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) for cardholders at highly subsidized prices. These are Rs 2 and Rs 3 per kg respectively for wheat and rice in case of Antyodaya Anna Yojana(AAY) beneficiaries.
“The element of subsidiy is Rs 13.44 per kg for wheat and Rs 17.43 per kg for rice. In case of BPL families, the central issue price is Rs 4.15 and Rs 5.65 per kg for wheat and rice respectively. Here too, the government of India is providing a subsidy of Rs 11.29 per kg for wheat and Rs 14.78 kg for rice,” it said adding allocation of 469-57 lakh tonnes under TPDS is being made.
–Agencies