Dimapur, Dec. 5: Men’s Department of Jakhama Baptist Church conducted an awareness programme on National Food Security Act 2013 at Jakhama Baptist Church for all churches in the village on December 4, with president of Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation(NVCO), Kezhokhoto Savi as speaker.
Speaking at the programme, Savi said this is the Act that the people have waited for long and expressed hope that the state government properly implement to uplift the general mass specially the weaker section in Nagaland.
He informed that to ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation, National Food Security Act has make provision for setting up social audit by the states. For this he said the government and local bodies have to update the name of the beneficiaries and put up the list on the notice board for public inspection and to conduct the audit involving the common people and also to set up vigilance committee to checks corruption in the implementation of the scheme. Savi said the Act is to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity. He explained that food security means availability of sufficient food grains to meet the domestic demand as well as access at the individual level, to adequate quantities of food at affordable prices.
Under NFSA, the union minister concerned during his visit to Nagaland said 79.83% people would be covered in the rural area while 61.98% would be covered in urban area, adding that every person would get wheat at Rs.2 per kg and rice at Rs.3 per kg. It further informed that under NFSA the central government would give 75% of transportation cost and 25% have to be paid by the state government, Saci informed.
He also said the beauty of the Food Security is the main features of the Act such as; i) Statutory acknowledgement of hunger and malnutrition and making the right to food a legal entitlement. ii) Almost doubling the people covered under Public Distribution System(PDS) scheme 36% to 67% of the population. iii) Strengthening and expansion of the PDS, from a situation of it being dismantled to the fair price shop and the ration card system being there to stay. iv) Although not universal, it is the first step towards moving away from the poverty line based divisions of APL and BPL. v) States who were buying huge quantum of APL grain like Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh will continue getting it current APL prices, so at least there is no loss (schedule IV). vi) The maternal entitlements will now be universal.
After a delay of nearly three years, Nagaland government on 27th June 2016 finally launched the much awaited ‘National Food Security Act 2013’ for Dimapur and Kohima. Both above poverty line(APL) and below poverty line(PBL) beneficiaries have been amalgamated under the name of Priority Household(PHH) as per the Act and the beneficiaries would be provided 5 kgs of food grains per head at Rs.3 per kg for rice and Rs.2 for wheat in the ratio of 4:1. The households covered under Antyodaya Anna Yojana(AAY) would be entitled to 35 kgs of food grains per month, Savi said.
He also reminded the gathering of what the director of Food & Civil Supplies said during the official launching programme of the Act. He said as far as conducting awareness and training to the citizens especially to village council and town colony panchayat/council is concerned, the state government especially the concerned department is very much failing.
Further he informed that the Food Commission is yet to establish and the state and district level grievances redressal system for expeditious and effective redressal of grievances of the aggrieved person relating to the distribution of entitlement.
