The Centre on Thursday granted six months time to State Governments to implement the landmark Food Security Act that give legal entitlement to highly subsidised foodgrains to two-thirds of the country’s population.
The food law, which came into force in July last year, > was to be implemented by State governments within a year by July 4, 2014. But the deadline was extended by three months till October 4 as many states could not put in place the necessary infrastructure for rolling out the welfare scheme.
“The deadline for state governments to implement the food law expired on October 4. We have given six months more time till April 4 for implementing the law,” Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters here.
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So far, 11 States have implemented the law. Of which, only five states have implemented the scheme fully, he said, adding that around 25 states and UTs are yet to implement it.
In September last year, Parliament had passed the Food Security Act under which each eligible person would get 5 kg of of rice and wheat at Rs 3 and Rs 2 per kg respectively. The existing Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, poorest of the poor, will continue to receive 35 kg of foodgrains per family a month.
The implementation of the law would increase the Centre’s food subsidy bill by Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 1.31 lakh crore while the grains requirement would rise by 6-8 million tonnes from the current 55 million tonnes annually.
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Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra, have fully implemented the Act; while Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar have done it partially, Mr. Paswan said.