Food security rollout to wait for 3 more months
27 Jun 2014 11:12 PM GMT
The Centre on Thursday decided to give additional three months to state governments to implement the National Food Security Act, that gives two-thirds of the country’s population the right to subsidised foodgrains.
The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting with prime minister Narendra Modi.
‘The deadline for implementation of National Food Security Act expires on July 4. The government has decided to extend the deadline by three months,’ food minister Ram Vilas Paswan told PTI.
An executive order will be issued in this regard, he said.
‘In a letter written to chief ministers of those states, where the National Food Security Act is yet to be implemented, the union food minister has requested action for its implementation in next three months,’ a statement released by the food ministry said.
So far, Haryana, Rajasthan. Maharashtra, Punjab and Chattisgarh have fully implemented the Act, while Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Chandigarh have partially implemented, he said.
More than 19 states and union territories are yet to implement the provisions of the Act, he added.
Paswan said the issues related to implementation of the Food Act will be discussed with state food and consumer affairs ministers in a meeting to be held next month. In the same meeting, food inflation issue will also be deliberated upon and measures will be taken to control food prices, he added. Paswan also said the federal government has decided to convened a conference of state food ministers 4 July in the national capital to discuss measures to check inflation.
‘The government has taken a serious note of recent increase in market prices of some of the food articles,’ Paswan said.
‘It would take stern action, jointly with state governments, to check all such unreasonable hike as there is enough stocks of foodgrains and other essential commodities in the country,’ he said.
The Act was pushed through last year by the previous UPA government led by the Congress party.
The BJP had called the welfare scheme too narrow to tackle the widespread malnutrition among India’s millions of poor.
The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting with prime minister Narendra Modi.
‘The deadline for implementation of National Food Security Act expires on July 4. The government has decided to extend the deadline by three months,’ food minister Ram Vilas Paswan told PTI.
An executive order will be issued in this regard, he said.
‘In a letter written to chief ministers of those states, where the National Food Security Act is yet to be implemented, the union food minister has requested action for its implementation in next three months,’ a statement released by the food ministry said.
So far, Haryana, Rajasthan. Maharashtra, Punjab and Chattisgarh have fully implemented the Act, while Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Chandigarh have partially implemented, he said.
More than 19 states and union territories are yet to implement the provisions of the Act, he added.
Paswan said the issues related to implementation of the Food Act will be discussed with state food and consumer affairs ministers in a meeting to be held next month. In the same meeting, food inflation issue will also be deliberated upon and measures will be taken to control food prices, he added. Paswan also said the federal government has decided to convened a conference of state food ministers 4 July in the national capital to discuss measures to check inflation.
‘The government has taken a serious note of recent increase in market prices of some of the food articles,’ Paswan said.
‘It would take stern action, jointly with state governments, to check all such unreasonable hike as there is enough stocks of foodgrains and other essential commodities in the country,’ he said.
The Act was pushed through last year by the previous UPA government led by the Congress party.
The BJP had called the welfare scheme too narrow to tackle the widespread malnutrition among India’s millions of poor.
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