Nearly 2.01 cr beneficiaries covered under NFSA in Chhattisgarh, says Centre

New Delhi [India], August 3 : Nearly 2.01 crore beneficiaries are covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA) in Chhattisgarh, the Central government informed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, in a written reply in the lower house, informed that nearly 2.01 crore total beneficiaries, including 7.19 lakh Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, are covered by the Chhattisgarh government for receiving the NFSA benefits.
"Presently under NFSA, a total of about 79.51 crore beneficiaries in the country are covered by the States/UTs for receiving the monthly benefits of highly subsidized food grains," she added.
The minister informed that as per the requirements of Chhattisgarh, only rice is allocated to the state and 13.84 lakh metric tonnes of rice per year was allocated to the state for the previous three years and 4.61 lakh metric tonnes of rice has been allocated to the state upto July this year.
According to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, under NFSA 2013, only foodgrains namely rice, wheat and coarse grains are allocated to all States/UTs including Chhattisgarh for distribution to NFSA beneficiaries at the highly subsidized Central Issue Price (CIP) of Rs 3, 2, and 1 per kg respectively, through Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
However, Chhattisgarh, as per their local requirements, is only distributing rice to its beneficiaries, it said.
Giving further information, the Union Minister stated, "As per provisions of the Food Security (Assistance to State Government) Rules, 2015 on August 17, 2015, the rate of fair price shop dealers margin is Rs 70 per quintal for 23 General category States including Chhattisgarh and Rs 143 per quintal for 13 Special category States. In addition to this, additional dealers margin of at the rate of Rs 17 per quintal is provided to all States/UTs including Chhattisgarh for distribution of foodgrains through ePoS devices. These FPS Dealers Margin and Additional Dealers Margin for e-PoS devices are shared between Central and State/UT Government on a 50:50 basis with the General Category States and 75:25 basis with Special Category States/UTs."
"The responsibility for payment of margin to fair price shop dealers rests with the concerned State Government. As per Rules, the State Government shall ensure the payment of fair price shop dealers' margin in advance by way of adjusting the same in prices of foodgrains to be paid by fair price shop dealers, or through another appropriate mechanism. If the price of foodgrains payable by fair price shop dealers in any State or Union territory is lower than the fair price shop dealers' margin, the State Government shall ensure upfront payment of margin, in full, to fair price shop dealers," Jyoti added.