Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPSS)

Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme has implemented by the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare. It is a pilot scheme of Government of India under the umbrella scheme of Pradhan Mantri – Annadata Aya Sanrakrishan Abhiyan (AASHA). This scheme allows the participation of the private sector in the procurement of food grains. PPSS scheme is applicable for the procurement of oilseeds. The key objective of the scheme is to ensure farmers to sell their produce at the minimum support price (MSP). In this article, we will look at the Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPSS) in detail.

Objective

The primary objective of this scheme is to assess the workability of private agencies in the procurement operation at Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Oil Seeds Covered under PPSS

The oilseeds for which MSP is declared by Government are covered under the Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPSS). Following the type of oilseeds are covered under the scheme:

Groundnut in shell
Soybean
Sunflower
Sesamum
Niger seeds
Mustard seed
Safflower
Toria

Procurement of Commodity

States will roll out the Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPSS) on a pilot basis in selected districts and Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) of the district. The state will also have the option of involving the participation of private stockiest. The district will cover one or more crop of oilseeds for which MSP is notified. As part of the PPSS, the selected private agency will procure commodity at Minimum Support Price (MSP) in prescribed markets during the prescribed period from registered farmers. The private agency will procure commodity in the following situation:

The private agency can procure the commodity when the prices in market fall below notified MSP
The private agency can procure the commodity when the state or UT government authorized to enter into the market.

If the market price of selected notified oilseeds falls below the MSP, the private agency will procure the Fair Average Quality (FAQ) products at MSP. The private agency will procure 25% of the production of the districts under this scheme.

Condition for Procurement

The selected private agency will not be allowed to sell the procured quantities during the procurement period notified under the other scheme of AASHA.

The selected private agency will be responsible for the handling of goods including storage and transportation.
The disposal of the commodity will be completely responsible for a private agency.

Applicability of PPSS

The PPSS scheme is applicable for Oilseeds produced in the selected districts where the state has opted for procurement of oilseeds at MSP of selected by a private agency.

Selection of State for PPSS

The PPSS proposal for the state will be taken up on the First Come First Serve basis and only eight pilots will be approved by DAC and FW.
The implementing state has to choose one or more oilseeds produced in the state for which pilot PSSS is proposed to be implemented for the particular marketing season.

Selection of Private Agency

The private agency for PPSS will be selected based on the following fields:

Track record
Corporate Governance
Management of Agriculture Produce
Targeted investments in the procurement sector

The private procurement agency will be empanelled by the government through an open tendering process quoting the lowest service charges based on techno-financial parameters. The private agencies to be empanelled may include oil manufactures, oilseeds processor and traders.

The Benefit to Private Agency

The selected private agency can avail the following benefits under the Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPSS)

According to the PPSS, the incentive will be provided to a selected private agency. The maximum service charges of 15% of the prescribed MSP will be provided to a private agency.
The private agency will be offered facilitative business environment according to the Industrial or Agro-processing policies including liberalization of stock limits
The Government will exempt market fee levied under respective Mandi Board acts.
The holding or disposal of the stocks will be under the terms & condition agreed between Government and the Private agency.

Reimbursement of Service Charge

The service charges paid to the private agencies by the Government will be reimbursed by GoI subject to a maximum of 15% of MSP value of procured quantity including 1% of administrative expenses. To get the reimbursement, the private agency needs to furnish the audited accounts to the office of Cheif Adviser, Department of Expenditure.

Procedure to Avail Benefit of PPSS

To avail the benefit of Private Procurement and Stockist Scheme (PPSS), the farmers have to register within the stipulated period.
A portal will be specifically developed in the selected districts or APMCs by the respective State or Union Territory Government.
The farmers need to provide the following details for registration:
- Name of crops harvested
- Aadhaar Number
- Bank Account Number
- Mobile Number
- Land record details
The registration data of the farmers will be integrated with the other procurement scheme for Minimum Support Price crops. The procurement scheme will include procurement by Food Corporation of India or its agencies in the selected districts.
The registration data will be verified by the revenue department before procurement period notified for the particular commodity by the Revenue Department.