Govt clears additional foodgrain to non-NFSA states

The government on Thursday approved allocation of additional 2.7 million tonnes of foodgrain to below poverty line (BPL) and above poverty line (APL) families for next six months to those states which have not implemented the food law. The National Food Security Act (NFSA), passed by Parliament in 2013, has been implemented in 20 states and Union territories. The deadline to roll out the Food Law expired on September 30.

To those states which have not implemented the food law, the Centre has been allocating extra foodgrains to ensure the the foodgrains entitlement to the beneficiaries under the old targeted public distribution system. Extra grains were allocated for only first half of the current financial year expecting all states would implement the food law by September 2015.

The government said: “The expectation is that more and more states/UTs will shift as early as possible to NFSA implementation from the older TPDS pattern.” On a monthly basis, the Centre will allocate 210,000 tonnes of additional foodgrains to BPL families and 240,000 tonnes to APL families.

BPL rates for wheat and rice stand at Rs 4.15 per kg and Rs 6.65 per kg, respectively, while that of APL wheat price is Rs 6.10 per kg and rice is Rs 8.30 a kg.

The Food law aims at providing a legal entitlement to 5 kg of subsidised foodgrains per person every month at Rs 1-3 kg to two-thirds of India’s population.

According to experts, the delay in implementation of food law in some states has been mainly due to problems related to identification of key beneficiaries. States are finding difficult to exclude some beneficiaries to include the most vulnerable section.