Entire country to be covered under Food Security Act by April: Paswan

Almost the entire country is likely to be covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) by April, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Monday, while asserting that rapid strides for its implementation have been made under the Narendra Modi government.

Paswan said a move is afoot to amend the Consumer Protection Act so the district and state forums are strengthened further, while a number of provisions that caused inconvenience to consumers, too, are being done away with. 

“The NFSA came into force in 2013. The Congress-led UPA, which was then in power, had stated that by 2014, most states in the country will be covered under the Act. However, when the BJP-led NDA came to power in May 2014, only 11 states had been covered. Now, after less than two years, we have 25 states covered. We are confident that all states, except Tamil Nadu, will be covered by April this year," he said.

Paswan said in UP, the Act is likely to benefit “64 per cent of the urban population and 80 per cent of the rural population”.