Rather than assisting states in the implementation of the Food Security Act, recent orders of the Ministry of Food seem to indicate the Centre is setting up barriers by burdening them with bogus additional requirements
On July 7, 2015 the Union minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan cracked the whip in a meeting with state food ministers by announcing that states that do not implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA) by the end of September will not be entitled to receive additional food grains from the Centre for the above poverty line (APL) and below poverty line (BPL) families. The warning was a stern reminder of the ministry’s orders dated April 9 and April 10, 2015.
The additional food grains form a significant share of the overall grain that states receive from the Centre. In the financial year 2014-15, this share was 12% of the total food grain allocation under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TDPS).
The food minister’s warning at first appeared to be pushing the states to finally gear up to get the Act rolling after a two-year delay. In reality, it ends up harming the PDS beneficiaries, as 18 out of 23 states that have not yet implemented the NFSA have declared their inability to meet the September deadline. The reduced supply to the states ultimately means fewer grains to be distributed amongst the needy households.
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