Except Tamil Nadu, all states, Union Territories to implement food law by March

New Delhi: All states and Union Territories, barring Tamil Nadu, will implement the landmark National Food Security Act by March 2016, food minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday said.

Till now, 22 states and UTs have rolled out the law while 14 are in the process of doing so, he said. The law was passed by Parliament in 2013 and state governments were given one year to implement the scheme.

Since then, the deadline has been extended thrice, with the latest one ending this September. The food law provides legal entitlement to 5 kg of subsidised foodgrain per person every month at Rs 1-3 kg to two-thirds of India’s population. “Except for Tamil Nadu, all other states have said they will implement the food law by the end of March 2016,” Paswan briefed media after the review meeting with state food secretaries here.

Of 14 states that have not implemented the Food Law, the minister said Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim have said they will implement the same in December. Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir, and Andaman & Nicobar will roll it out in January 2016 while other states — Gujarat, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland — will do it by March next year, he added.

On direct cash transfer of food subsidy, Paswan said, “We are implementing it on a pilot basis in Puducherry and Chandigarh. It is not mandatory for states to implement direct benefit transfer (DBT). It is optional for states if they want to give cash subsidy in some parts of the state.”

Addressing concerns of some states on direct cash subsidy issue, food secretary Vrinda Swarup said: “We are not forcing states to go for DBT. If they want to implement at urban centres, they have that option.” However, she made it clear that it is mandatory for states to install e-PoS machines backed with Aadhar identification.