Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday asked the states to streamline

procurement, storage and distribution of foodgrains. Speaking at a conference in New Delhi, Mr Ahluwalia said with ten per cent improvement in efficiency 7,000 crore rupees can be saved every year. He said, a lot of work has to be done like modernisation of storage, increasing foodgrain production further and using latest technology for efficient distribution.

Mr Ahluwalia said the state governments will have to play a key role in all these steps. He said, in the 12th Plan there should put in place a monitorable set of ideas to see how much progress have been made in the field of food security.

The Plan panel deputy chief said computerisation has led to elimination of bogus ration cards and with use of the Aadhaar Number the distribution system could be streamlined further. Mr Ahluwalia called upon the state governments to adopt a more flexible approach on the issue of land acquisition for developing storage facilities.