Centre owes Bengal Rs 3,800 crore
Centre owes Bengal Rs 3,800 crore in lieu of buying paddy under ‘Central pool’
More than half of the paddy bought from farmers—the rice extracted from which is meant for distribution at subsidised rates from ration shops—by the Bengal government is part of what is called the ‘Central pool’, which implies that the Central government has to reimburse the state for the amount bought by the latter. The rest is part of the ‘state pool’.
This is natural considering the fact the Central government provides subsidised ration, under the National Food Security Act, to 6.01 crore beneficiaries and the state, under the Rajya Khadya Suraksha Yojana (RKSY), to 3.97 crore beneficiaries.
However, leave alone paying a part in advance, the Centre still owes the state a massive Rs 3,800 crore for paddy already bought. Of this, Rs 1,100 crore is part of the financial year (FY) 2018-19 due while the rest Rs 2,700 crore approximately is part of FY 2019-20 due.
The amount paid as part of the Central pool is meant to cover the cost of the entire chain of buying from farmers, milling (to extract the rice), storage and transportation.
Despite this unpaid due, to help the people, the Bengal government has decided to go ahead with its plan of buying 52 lakh tonnes of paddy during the kharif marketing season 2020-21 (October 1, 2020-September 31, 2021), and has already arranged the financing for 35 lakh tonnes.
From the 52 lakh tonnes of paddy, 35 lakh tonnes of rice would be derived, out of which 23 lakh tonnes would go to the Central pool and 12 lakh tonnes to the state pool.
According to departmental sources, considering the bumper harvest this time, the buying limit is almost likely to be increased.
The state Food and Supplies Department has kept aside Rs 1,200 crore for buying paddy. The Finance Department has sanctioned some amount. Then, the West Bengal Essential Commodities Supply Corporation, under the Food and Supplies Department, has decided to go for a bank loan of Rs 1,600 crore now and another Rs 3,000 crore later. Cooperative federations like BENFED, CONFED and others, under the state Cooperation Department, which buy about half of the paddy on behalf of the state government, have also decided to take bank loans, the guarantor being the state government.
It is important to note that farmers’ getting a good price in the open market depends to a large extent on the state’s keeping to its decision of buying at MSP.
