Quality Council to conduct sampling of Bharat rice, atta and pulses
Subsidized rice, wheatflour and pulses that account for a substantial portion of government spendingwill be checked randomly for quality and quantity to ensure there is no diversion or adulteration, a senior official said.
The checks, part of the government’s track and trace plan, will be conducted by the Quality Council of India (QCI) at various points along the supply chain. The move aligns with the government’s substantial expenditure on food subsidies, pegged at ₹2.05 trillion for the coming financial year and ₹2.12 trillion in FY24, higher than the budgeted estimate of ₹1.97 trillion for the current year.
The subsidized food grains, meant for the poor, are supplied to states under the National Food Security Act, or NFS A, and other welfare schemes.
Mint last month reported that the government was planning to track and trace Bharat rice, atta and pulses for their quality in collaboration with QCI, a move aimed at nipping the practice of unscrupulous traders mixing grit with grain.
“QCI made a presentation to the IMC (inter-ministerial last month on collaboration for system strengthening for Bharat brand subsidized products, and briefly explained the various areas of intervention required for holistic vetting of sale of Bharat atta and rice by the Kendriya Bhandar, NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd) and NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers' Federation of India Ltd),” the official said.
“To ensure that public resources are being put to proper use, an agency such as QCI may be onboarded for third party validation.”
The current mandate for third-party validation of Bharat atta and rice is to ensure correct prices, quality and seamless supply chain.
“After a long deliberation, it was decided that QC I will engage for random sampling of Bharat rice and at ta at different nodes of the supply chain and seek feedbackfromend-usersaboutprice and quality until June 2024. The three agencies will share the required information, including details about their respective supply chain logistics, with QCI sothatthethird-partyvalidation process may be operationalized at the earliest to ensure that there is no diversion.”
QCI will have login access to the three agencies’ data on millersand the amounts allocated to them, which can be used to ensure seamless last-mile supply of these subsidized products.
“Since an objective assessment of Bharat products is already in place through the quality control division of the food and public distribution department, the QCI may supplement this with a subjective assessment of quality as perceived by consumers. The food department clarified that this scheme is valid only till June. Therefore, long-term planning, inventory management etc. may be taken as a part of a separate study that could be assigned by the agencies directly. For now, QC I may restrict itself with price, quality and whether the quantity lifted is reaching the end-consumer,” the official shared.
Queries sent to the QCI, and the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution remained unanswered at press time.