Maharashtra: State government issues notification for creating framework for implementation of Food Security Act

Mumbai: State government has issued notification creating administrative framework for implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. The notification provides for setting up State Food Commission (SFC), creating the post of District Grievance Redressal Officer (DGRO) and creating a Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) whereby essential commodities will be made to ration card holders through Fair Price Shops (FPS).

As per the NFSA, under the TPDS, all ration card holders, who have an annual income of Rs 44,000 in rural and Rs 59,000 for urban areas respectively, will be eligible to avail the benefits of subsidized food as a priority Household beneficiaries through Fair Price Shops (FPS).

As per the states Economic Survey for 2016-17, the Food Security Act covers 62.3 percent of the population in the state, of which 4.70 crore population is in rural areas and 2.30 crore in urban areas. There are about 216.85 lakh families in rural having an annual income of Rs 44,000 and 183.22 lakh families in urban areas having an annual income of Rs 59,000.

As per the state Economic Survey for 2016-17 there are 2.48 crore Ration Card holders in the state, of which 43 lakh cards are under the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category and 25 lakh cards are under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).

The Notification provides for creation of the State Food Commission (SFC) which shall be headquartered in Mumbai and headed by a chairperson. The SFC shall have the powers to directly hear grievance or complaints received. The commission shall also have powers to visit and inspect any stock and delivery pint, FPS, School, Anganwadi, local authority or office of the DGRO. The grievance redressal mechanism shall consist of a call center based on help line with toll free numbers 1967 or 1800224950 established for registering complaints and providing information to the public.