RAS question
Buffer stock norms for India require maintaining:
Correct answer: (C) Minimum 21.04 million tonnes of foodgrains (rice + wheat) as of April each year.
India's revised Central Pool buffer stock norm requires a minimum of 21.04 million tonnes of foodgrains on 1 April each year, counted as rice and wheat together.
Explanation
India keeps buffer stocks of rice and wheat to support food security, price stability and PDS requirements. The PIB release on the CCEA's revision of Central Pool foodgrain buffer norms gives quarterly norms in million tonnes: 21.04 on 1 April, 41.12 on 1 July, 30.77 on 1 October and 21.41 on 1 January. The question asks what the norms require maintaining; option C is right because it states the April floor of 21.04 million tonnes for foodgrains, i.e. rice plus wheat. The figure is not a fixed year-round stock target: the requirement changes by quarter, with July higher after the rabi procurement cycle.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 100 million tonnes is far above the revised quarterly Central Pool norms listed in the PIB release, including the 1 April norm of 21.04 million tonnes.
- (B) 1 million tonnes is far below even the lowest revised quarterly norm, which is 21.04 million tonnes on 1 April.
- (D) The CCEA-approved norms themselves show that India does maintain required Central Pool buffer stocks of foodgrains.
Concept
This tests the food security and agricultural geography part of the RAS syllabus: procurement, storage and distribution of rice and wheat. It recurs because buffer stocking links agriculture, PDS, price stability and state capacity in one examinable policy concept.