Zoramthanga wants National Food Security Act to cover 80 pct of Mizoram's population

Mizoram has urged the Centre government to raise the coverage from 64.73 per cent to at least 80 per cent of its 12 lakh population under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in the state, an official said here on Saturday. Chief Minister Zoramthanga raised the demand when he met Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan at Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi on Friday, according to an official of the state Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department.

"The Chief Minister told the Union Minister that after the implementation of the NFSA in the state, the allocation of foodgrain for the beneficiaries has come down. The remaining foodgrain is procured from open market by the state government," the official quoted the Chief Minister as saying. The Union Minister told the Chief Minister that National Sample Survey Organisation's (NSSO) study is the basis for deciding the percentage of distribution of foodgrains and it is being uniformly applied throughout the country. Paswan also said that allocation of foodgrains would be revised by the NITI Aayog based on a new NSSO Survey and it is not possible to make exceptions for Mizoram.

According to the official, NFSA was implemented in Mizoram in March 2016 to cover 706,296 people out of the total of 12 lakh. Currently, 662,440 people belonging to 146,876 families are covered under the scheme. Mizoram has 267,606 ration card holders, of which 146,876 are under the NFSA. Paswan assured Zoramthanga of construction of more warehouses by the Food Corporation of India and the pending issue of the hill state transport subsidy would be resolved in a joint meeting soon.

(With inputs from agencies.)