SNS
| Bhubaneswar | 13 February, 2016
Ram Vilas Paswan (PIB)
Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan said the NFSA will be implemented by the remaining six states in April, ration cards will be linked to Aadhar cards and so on, but he went on to concede that there were several complaints of irregularities in implementation and the centre can do very little about these things.
It is up to the state government to check corruption and ensure that the poor get the benefit as the objective of the NFSA is to check bogus cards and beneficiaries and plug loopholes in distribution.
Implicitly taking a dig at the state government, he said, “They claim to provide rice free of cost or at Rs.1 per kg. The message given is that the state government is doing so whereas the fact is that the central subsidy is Rs.27 per kg and the state subsidy is barely Rs.2 or Rs.1 per kg.
“In a federal structure, the centre cannot intervene on matters pertaining to digitised ration cards being issued to ineligible people, of the Food Commission, vigilance committees etc not being formed etc. But we will certainly forward all such complaints to the state government,” he said.
Asked what action would be taken if the six states which are yet to implement the NFSA are unable to meet the April deadline, Paswan said the matter is pending disposal of the apex court.
What can the centre to at the most it can stop supply of food grains, but then the people will suffer, he observed while insisting that the role of the centre ends at the FCI godown.
It is the responsibility of the state government to ensure proper distribution to genuine beneficiaries, he added.
Highlighting the achievements of his ministry, he said, “99.9 per cent of ration cards ( with the exception of two districts in Himachal Pradesh) have been digitized. Over 42 per cent of the ration cards have been even linked with Aadhaar cards and point of sale devices to keep electronic record of allocation to the beneficiary have been installed in over 77,000 ration shops.”
He said during the ongoing khareef season huge paddy procurement of 261.37 lakh tone has been procured till Thursday. Direct Cash Transfer of food subsidy to beneficiaries has been launched in Chandigarh and Puducherry on an experimental basis since September last year, he noted.
He said steps to create a 1.5 lakh metric tonne buffer stock of pulses has been planned and FCI has started procurement operations.
The drop in international prices of imported oils was affecting prices of domestically produced edible oils, he said adding that the import duty on such items had been increased to protect the farmer.
Reform measures have been introduced in FCI and it has been asked to construct modern silos for storage of 100 lakh MT capacity at different locations on PPP mode.
A time bound construction plan has been put in place, stated Paswan.
Despite the deficit monsoon over the last two years, there is more than adequate foodgrain stock, he said.
Read more at http://www.thestatesman.com/news/odisha/-state-must-ensure-poor-get-nfsa-benefits/123216.html#LHOpIXQAKIsTF0Q3.99