Effective price support operations for safeguarding    the interests of the farmers.
	Distribution of food grains throughout the country for public distribution system ; and
	Maintaining satisfactory level of operational and buffer stocks of food grains to ensure National Food Security.

• Food grain bags should be received with proper dunnages as per stack plan to facilitate cross ventilation/inspection/QC treatments and ensuring stacks are formed to full capacity and avoid part stacks.
• Maintaining excellent hygienic conditions all around the stacks/ godowns /operational points and avoiding loose spillages by ensuring cleaned spillages are put into palla bags to respective stacks.
• Effective personal supervision of prophylactic (spraying) treatments with correct dosage and immediate curative treatments (fumigation) on finding insects in a stack to avoid cross infestation on the lines of “A stitch in times saves nine”.
• Insistence / ensuring provision of adequate Tarpaulins/ polythene bits to the minimum size of 10’ x 10’ at the operational points of receipts/ issues to avoid mixing of spillages with mud and possible losses.
• Insistence / ensuring spreading of tarpaulins / polythene bits/ gunny wrappers on the decks of trucks before loading of food grains bags to avoid oozing enroute and proper full covering of loaded bags with tarpaulins to avoid pilferages, without complacency.
• Ensuring adequate aeration of stacks by opening all doors on all clear days.
• Completely avoiding dumping of spillages on the stacks.

• The Food Corporation of India along with other Government agencies provide effective price assurance for wheat, paddy and coarse grains.

• FCI and the State Govt. agencies in consultation with the concerned State Govts. establish large number of purchase centres throughout the state to facilitate purchase of foodgrains

• Centres are selected in such a manner that the farmers are not required to cover more than 10 kms.to bring their produce to the nearest purchase centres of major procuring states.

• Price support purchases are organized in more than 12,000 centers for wheat and also more than  12,000 centers for paddy every year in the immediate post-harvest season.

• Such extensive and effective price support operations have resulted in sustaining the income of farmers over a period and in providing the required impetus for higher investment in agriculture for improved productivity.

• To name a few states about Rs.41,000 millions for paddy and 43,000 millions for wheat in Punjab and Rs. 45,000 millions for levy rice in Andhra Pradesh is paid to the farmers/ millers during wheat / rice procurement season.

• India today produces over 200 million tonnes of foodgrains as against a mere 50 million tonnes in 1950.

• In the last two decades, foodgrain procurement by Government agencies have witnessed a quantum jump from 4 million tonnes to over 25 million tonnes per annum.
• Foodgrains are procured according to the Government - prescribed quality standards.
• Each year, the Food Corporation purchases roughly 15-20% of India's wheat production and 12-15% of its rice production.
• This helps to meet the commitments of the Public Distribution System and for building pipeline and buffer stock.

• Ensuring accessibility to food in a country of India's size is a Herculean task. The foodgrains are transported from the surplus States to the deficit States.
• The foodgrain surplus is mainly confined to the Northern States, transportation involves long distance throughout the country. Stocks procured in the markets and purchase centers is first collected in the nearest depot and from there dispatched to the recipient States within a limited time.
• FCI moves about 270 Lakh tonnes of foodgrains over an average distance of 1500 Kms.

DISTRIBUTION OF FOODGRAINS 

The national objective of growth with social justice and progressive improvements in the living standards of the population make it imperative to ensure that foodgrain is made available at reasonable prices.

• Public Distribution of foodgrains has always been an integral part of India’s overall food policy. It has been evolved to reach the urban as well as the rural population in order to protect the consumers from the fluctuating and escalating price syndrome.
• Continuous availability of foodgrain is ensured through about 4.5 lakhs fair price shops spread throughout the country.
• A steady availability of foodgrains at fixed prices is assured which is lower than actual costs due to Govt. policy of providing subsidy that absorbs a part of the economic cost (about 45%).
• The Govt. of India introduced a scheme called Targetted Public Distribution Scheme (TPDS) effective from June, 1997. The stocks are issued under this scheme in the following two categories:-
  
  a) Below Poverty Line (BPL): Determination of the families under this category in various states is based on the recommendation of the Planning Commission. A fixed quantity of 35 Kg. foodgrains per family per month is issued under this category. The stocks are issued at highly subsidized Price of Rs.4.15 per Kg. of wheat and Rs. 5.65 per Kg. of rice.
  
  Antyodaya Anna Yojna - During the year 2000-2001 Govt. of India decided to release foodgrains under Antyodaya Anna Yojna. Under this scheme the poorest strata of population out of earlier identified BPL population is covered. Foodgrains are being provided to 1.5 crores poorest of the poor families out of the BPL families at highly subsidized rates of Rs.2/- per kg. of wheat and Rs.3/- per kg. of rice by FCI. This is the biggest food security scheme in the world.
  
  b) Above Poverty Line ( APL) – Families which are not covered under BPL are placed under this category. The stocks are issued at Central Issue Price of Rs. 6.10 per Kg.  of wheat and Rs. 8.30 per Kg. of rice.