Centre plans to restructure PM-AASHA with ₹28,100 crore corpus
NEW DELHI : Ahead of the general elections, the government is planning to consolidate marquee schemes to safeguard the interests of farmers and consumers, under the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), with an allocation of ₹28,107 crore till 2025-26, three officials aware of the matter said. The plan is to merge the Union Consumer Affairs Department’s Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) with the agriculture ministry’s Price Support Scheme (PSS), and bring the merged scheme under the PM-AASHA, along with the market intervention scheme (MIS).
The rationale for the merger is to achieve efficiency by removing duplication and get better coverage of farm commodities to ensure prices do not fluctuate. “There is a need for major institutional corrections to protect interests of consumers and farmers," one of the officials said.
“After expert analysis of domestic and international experiences, it has been decided that a single department will be able to play a better role in price stabilization. However, some components of the schemes will remain with the existing ministries." Earlier, Niti Aayog had suggested “integrated price intervention activities for better efficiency, coordination, and cost-effectiveness to achieve price stabilization".
In January 2023, it was decided to introduce a unified scheme for price support and buffer management, merging PSS and PSF schemes, to be executed by agriculture ministry. “Under the proposed PSS and PSF merger or Integrated Price Support and Stabilization Scheme (IPS&SS), price support component—procurement of pulses, oilseeds and copra at MSP will be done by agriculture ministry and the price stabilization component—non-MSP procurement of horticulture commodities for
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