BackTamil Nadu govt to implement National Food Security Act from 1 November
Tamil Nadu will have to bear an additional expenditure of Rs1,193.30 crore per year for implementing the Food Security Act
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Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday decided to implement the National Food Security Act, effective from 1 November, without affecting the already existing Universal Public Distribution System (PDS), which entitles rice to all rice cardholders.
This means, the state will have to bear additional expenditure of ₹ 1,193.30 crore per year for implementing the Food Security Act.
On account of implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 and retaining the universal PDS “with the protection of existing entitlements, the off take per month is expected to go up. The state government shall have to bear the additional expenditure on this account. This will result in an additional commitment of about ₹ 1,193.30 crore per annum," said the order from the Tamil Nadu government on Thursday.
The decision comes a week after the Kerala government decided to implement the NFSA. Three years after NFSA was enacted, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were the only states that were yet to implement the Act.
The present monthly offtake of rice under PDS, including Antyodaya Anna Yojana, was about 3.23 lakh metric tonnes and the Centre’s monthly allotment to the state was 2.96 lakh metric tonnes, said the government order. The additional requirement was being met through Central government allocation of 27,969 metric tonnes per month at below poverty line rate of ₹ 5.65 per kg up to June 2016. But there has been no additional allocation since July, it said.
The state government said the scheme of free distribution of rice to all rice-drawing family ration card holders will continue. It has also decided to constitute a State Food Commission for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of NFSA.
The revised scale of supply will be implemented from 1 November in the state, except in Aravakurichi, Thanjavur and Thiruparankundram constituencies where elections/by-elections are scheduled.
A government order issued by chief secretary P. Rama Mohana Rao said it was done after obtaining the consent of the Election Commission.
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