New Delhi: The Centre’s initiative to provide kitchen staples–pulses, wheat flour and rice–under the Bharat brand to consumers at subsidized rates will also involve quality assurance.
The National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) is set to collaborate with the Quality Council of India (QCI) to develop a robust ‘track n trace’ system, aimed at maintaining the quality of these essential food items and also preventing any potential diversion and malpractice, two senior government officials told Mint.
This move aligns with the government’s substantial expenditure on food subsidies, highlighting the importance of safeguarding the integrity and effectiveness of this spend.
The Centre has pegged its food subsidy outgo for the 2024-25 financial year (FY25) at ₹2.05 trillion. It has hit ₹2.12 trillion in FY24, higher than the budgeted estimate of ₹1.97 trillion for the year.
The government provides subsidized food grains to states under the National Food Security Act, or NFSA, and other welfare schemes.
Prompted by recommendations from the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, the ‘track and trace’ system is designed to facilitate stringent quality controls and monitoring from milling stages to distribution from the warehouses of the Food Corp of India (FCI) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed).
The intent is to ensure that the quality of these essential commodities meets expectations, thereby reinforcing consumer confidence, one of the officials cited above said.
To provide relief to consumers against high inflation, Nafed, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar are selling Bharat Dal at a subsidised rate of ₹60 a kg, Bharat Atta at ₹27.5 per kg, and Bharat Rice, launched on Tuesday, at ₹29.
Retail inflation hit a four-month high of 5.69% in December, rising from 5.5% in November, and remains close to the higher end of the central bank’s tolerance range of 2-6%.
The ‘track and trace’ initiative is not because of any complaints received but a proactive measure to ensure that the benefits of government subsidies reach the intended recipients efficiently and transparently, said the other official.
Queries sent to the consumer affairs, food and public distribution ministry, NCCF and QCI remained unanswered at press time.
The official also said that the system would help provide insights into distribution patterns and consumer demand, enabling adjustments to the scheme based on actual needs.
This mechanism isn’t just about ensuring products get to the right people, it’s also about affirming the quality of goods provided at subsidized rates. The involvement of an independent and impartial agency like the QCI in certifying these products is a crucial step in conveying this assurance to the public, he added.
The NCCF will leverage its tracking software and deploy QR codes and barcoding to boost the transparency and efficiency of the distribution process.
“For Bharat rice, we are proud to say that barcoding is there,” the official said, adding that terms and conditions on the agreement with QCI will be formulated soon.
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Published: 07 Feb 2024, 04:14 PM IST