Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking the government to offer increased rations to people who are identified as beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) as well as vulnerable sections who may not enlisted under the NFSA.
The Congress president said that in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, “we must ensure that no one faces hunger”.
“I welcome your decision to provide free of cost 5 kg grain/person in addition to the entitlements under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) from April-June, 2020,” Ms Gandhi said in her letter. “However, given the adverse impact of the lockdown and its prolonged impact of people’s livelihoods, I write to you to consider a few suggestions. Firstly, the provision of 10 kg grains/person to NFSA beneficiaries must be extended for an additional period of 3 months i.e. till September, 2020. Given the chronic economic distress faced by these beneficiaries, the food entitlements may be provided free of cost,” she added.
The Congress chief also suggested providing 10 kg grains/person free of cost for a period of 6 months to all those who may be facing food insecurity but don’t have ration cards .
“Lakhs of vulnerable people across the country face chronic food insecurity due to the lockdown. This is tragic given that India has large buffer stock of food grains precisely for exigencies like the current pandemic,”Ms. Gandhi said, adding that migrant labourers and many others facing distress may have been excluded from the NFSA lists.
The Congress leader also said that releasing additional food grains to the States will help create storage space with Food Corporation of India (FCI) to scale up the rabi procurement of wheat and rice.
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“The current crisis has pushed many relatively food secure families into food insecurity and poverty. Population increases since 2011 have not been considered for determining each State’s entitlement under NFSA. The above measures are critical to safeguard people against food inflation, at a juncture where supply chain disruptions are causing price rise,” Ms. Gandhi noted.
Separately, in a series of tweets, former Finance Minister P. Chidamabaram, too, pointed out that direct benefit transfers under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Scheme, that was tweeted by the Ministry of Finance, has left out several segments.
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Listing these sections, Mr Chidambarama said: “Examples:Tenant farmers, Landless agri labour, Non-agri daily wagers, MGNREGA workers without work, Migrant workers, Self-employed workers,Taxi, auto drivers,Delivery agents,Male Jan Dhan account holders, Petty shop keepers, Street vendors etc.” He added, “The above do not fall under @nsitharaman’s plan and are without any money for the last 21 days”.
