The union cabinet on Wednesday approved additional monthly allocation of 41,800 tonnes of foodgrains for poor families and 20,507 tonnes for others in states like Kerala, Nagaland and Tamil Nadu where the food security act is still not implemented.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, decided to approve allocation of 41,800 tonnes of foodgrains for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families at BPL rates in these states.
According to official sources, similarly, 20,507 tonnes of foodgrains for Above Poverty Line (APL) families would be available at two-third of minimum support price (MSP) rates to these states.
This additional supply is for the period from April to June, 2016 or till implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA) by the respective states "whichever is earlier", an official source said.
The NFSA, which has come into force from July 5, 2013 and provides for coverage of two-third population, based on the population estimates of 2011, for receiving wheat at Rs.2 per kg and rice at Rs.3 per kg.
"It was expected that the Food Security Act would be implemented in all the states or union territories by March 2016 and beneficiaries under Targeted Public Distribution Systems (TDPS) would get highly subsidised foodgrains," an official source said adding additional foodgrains for BPL and APL families have been approved for 33 states and union territories.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Nagaland are still getting allocation of foodgrains under the erstwhile TPDS. "These states are in the process of implementation of NFSA in the coming months," the source said.
--IANS
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