Nod to procure wheat directly from farmers for ‘Bharat Atta’

New Delhi, March 29

To ensure the availability of affordable wheat flour under the Bharat Atta scheme ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Centre has allowed the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) and the National Co-operative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF) to directly procure wheat from farmers during the rabi marketing season.

Subsidised flour

• Nafed and NCCF get approval for direct procurement from farmers in rabi season
• Procurement likely in economically disadvantaged states like Bihar, Rajasthan and eastern UP
• ’Bharat Atta’ is being provided to people at a subsidised rate of Rs 27.50 per kg

The two national agencies, responsible for managing sales under the Bharat Atta scheme along with other products like Bharat Chana Dal and Bharat Rice, will collaborate with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) in wheat procurement operations.

Sources said the focus would be on procuring wheat from farmers in economically disadvantaged states like Bihar, Rajasthan and eastern Uttar Pradesh. In these regions, farmers often resort to selling their produce to private traders at prices below the minimum support price (MSP) due to the absence of government procurement agencies.

Traditionally, the FCI has been the sole entity procuring wheat and supplying it to Nafed and the NCCF to meet their Bharat Atta scheme requirements. However, this latest directive aims to reduce the agencies’ dependency on the FCI, ensuring timely availability of wheat for distribution under the scheme.

While the FCI primarily operates in major wheat-growing states like Punjab and Haryana, smaller states like Bihar and Rajasthan often miss out on MSP benefits.

Last November, to curb inflation and provide affordable and quality food, the government had launched Bharat Atta at a subsidised rate of Rs 27.50 per kg nationwide. The initiative aimed to alleviate consumers from high flour prices, which had surged to nearly Rs 40 per kg. Bharat Atta was made available through cooperative outlets such as Nafed, NCCF and Kendriya Bhandar, utilising 800 mobile vans and over 2,000 outlets across the country.