The decks have been cleared for the setting up of a State Food Commission, a quasi judicial regulatory body, to monitor issues related to the public distribution system, Anna Bhagya scheme of supplying foodgrains at nominal cost, and supply of food to anganwadis under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).
Announcing this at a press conference here, Food Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said Karnataka was the third State in the country to set up such a commission under the provisions of the National Food Security Act, after Bihar and Haryana.
The State Cabinet recently cleared the proposal, and the administrative formalities have been completed with the issuing of a notification in this regard on June 10. It may take three to four months to put the Commission in place, the Minister said. It will have seven members including a chairman and a member secretary. Till then, the State Consumer Forum will double up as the food commission, he explained.
The chairman and members will be chosen by a committee headed by the Chief Minister. The selection committee will comprise presiding officers and leaders of the Opposition of both the Houses of the State Legislature and the Food Minister as its members.
The general public could take up any issues and grievances related to food in the public sector with the commission. They could also take up issues concerning the orders by the district-level authorities related to their grievances if they were not satisfied with the verdict of those authorities, the Minister said. He was of the view that the commission would strengthen the PDS as well as Anna Bhagya scheme.
