GUWAHATI, Feb 27 � Implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, has not started in Assam, said Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Raosaheb Patil Danve in reply to an unstarred question from Santiuse Kujur, a Rajya Sabha MP from the State, in the Rajya Sabha today.
The Minister told the Rajya Sabha that the NFSA is deemed to have come into force on July 5, 2013. Allocation of foodgrains to 11 States/Union Territories (UTs) namely, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan has started under the Act based on the preparedness and identification of beneficiaries for coverage under the Act, the Minister said.
The NFSA provides for coverage of upto 75 per cent of the rural population and upto 50 per cent of the urban population of the country for receiving foodgrains at subsidised prices under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), corresponding to which State-wise coverage has been determined by the Planning Commission.
This coverage has been delinked from poverty estimates and is large enough to include all the needy households. Within the coverage determined for each State/Union Territory (UT), identification of priority households is to be done by States/UTs in accordance with criteria to be evolved by them. State governments and UT administrations have been advised to identify the eligible households in a fair and transparent manner, the Minister said.
