With the sale of ‘Bharat atta’, the Govt aims to address the essential needs of consumers while safeguarding the interests of farmers
The recent flagging off of 100 mobile vans for the sale of Atta under the ‘Bharat’ brand in New Delhi marked a bold new initiative of the Government to take care of the interests of ordinary people who are consumers of essential commodities. Globally, supply chains remain disrupted, and logistics costs have gone up, pushing food inflation up. The Bharat Atta is available at an MRP not exceeding Rs.27.50/kg at NAFED stores, Kendriya Bhandar, and other cooperative outlets. This is not only much below the market price but will also put pressure on retailers and wholesalers to bring down the general prices, giving relief to all classes of consumers. Indeed, in the last three months, contrary to market expectations, prices of both wheat and atta have either come down or remained stable.
The launch of “Bharat Atta” is to be seen from the perspective of the wider intent of the Centre to take care of the welfare and interests of its vast population in a period of fluctuating geopolitical situations, which may affect the prices of all such commodities adversely. The alacrity and speed at which the government deals with the ground situation is indeed remarkable.
The launch of retail sales of ‘The Bharat’ brand Atta has increased supplies in the market at affordable rates and is helping in the continued moderation of prices of this important food item. The initiative in the interests of ordinary consumers needs to be seen in the context of efforts of the planners to ensure remunerative MSP to farmers so that their interests are not compromised at the cost of keeping prices low for the sake of consumers. Bharat Atta at Rs.27.50/kg for consumers and an excellent support mechanism for farmers is a unique management solution to achieve a unique balance between the two sides of the problem. Supply-side economics has been balanced intelligently with demand-side economics.
The challenges of maintaining a fine balance between the needs of the masses in getting food and essential commodities at reasonable rates and the farmers to have a higher income each year have always been cited as mutually competitive sides of this delicate balance. The terms of trade between agriculture and farming goods vis-a-vis other manufacturing goods and other tertiary services have historically been loaded against the farm sector.
The launch of affordable Bharat Atta is to be seen alongside a slew of other anti-inflationary measures like ensuring the availability of Bharat Dal (Chana dal) through the physical and/or retail outlets of 3 agencies at Rs.60 per kg for a 1kg pack and Rs.55 per kg for a 30 kg pack, onions at Rs.25 per kg. FCI is also offering 4 LMT of rice for sale in the weekly e-auctions to increase the availability of rice in the domestic market. FCI also offered rice for sale at Rs.29.00-29.73/kg by the prices fixed by the Government as a signal for the market.
Besides such measures, the Centre has done well to withstand pressures from international powers, global trade institutions, millers, and export lobbies while introducing administrative pressure in restricting exports of wheat and some varieties of rice to ensure sufficient domestic availability of those commodities. The government has also imposed limits on the stock holding of wheat by different categories of entities like wholesalers/traders, processors, retailers, and big chain retailers to prevent hoarding.
To take effective anti-inflationary remedial measures, the Department of Consumer Affairs monitors the daily retail and wholesale prices of 22 essential food commodities through 545 price monitoring centres set up in 34 States/UTs. The daily report of prices and indicative price trends are duly analysed for taking appropriate decisions for the release of stocks from the buffer to cool down prices, imposition of stock limits to prevent hoarding, changes in trade policy instruments like rationalisation of import duty, changes in import quota, restrictions on exports of the commodity, etc.
The Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) set up by the Centre has been extensively used to check the volatility in the prices of agri-horticultural commodities. Currently, under the PSF, a dynamic buffer stock of pulses (Tur, Urad, Moong, Masur, and Gram) and onion is being maintained. Onion prices in India have always been a politically sensitive matter. To check the volatility in prices of onions, the Government maintains an onion buffer under the PSF. The buffer size has been increased year after year from 1.00 LMT in 2020-21 to 2.50 LMT in 2022-23.
To augment domestic availability and moderate the prices of pulses, the import of tur and urad has been kept under the ‘Free Category’ till 31.03.2024, and import duty on masur has been reduced to zero till 31.03.2024. Import duty of 10 per cent on tur has been removed to facilitate smooth and seamless importation. Bharat Atta and many such interventions like the regular sale of wheat by the Food Corporation of India demonstrate the strong will of the Government of India to take people-centric decisions swiftly and proactively when it’s needed the most.
(The writer is a former food secretary, views are personal)
