Bihar, UP to get maximum benefit from Food Security ordinance

TN's share of grains to drop by 32%, poll-bound states like MP, Rajasthan too get rise in grains allocation

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh the two politically crucial states are among the top three states which will get maximum increase in their annual foodgrains allocation as per the newly promulgated National Food Security Ordinance (NFSO). Rajasthan is the third.

According to an internal assessment made by the food ministry, which was shared with chief ministers recently, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh will see a massive reduction in their annual grains allocation under the Ordinance.

The assessment was based on the estimatedpercentage of people to be covered under the Food Ordinance in each state.

Bihar and Uttar Pradesh together send around 120 members to the Lok Sabha out of the total 543 members. Interestingly, the assessment shows that Non-Congress States and those who will go for assembly polls in next few months stand to gain the maximum from the Food Ordinance as compared to Congress-ruled ones.

As per the assessment, the annual allocation of foodgrains to Bihar will rise by a whopping 110.16% as compared to average annual off take under the existing Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) between 2009-10 to 2011-12 from 2.66 million tonnes to 5.60 million tonnes.  

The annual allocation to Uttar Pradesh will go up by almost 47% as compared to the average annual off take of three years from 6.55 million tonnes to 9.63 million tonnes. Rajasthan’s annual quota of foodgrains will go up by 52%.

At the same time, Tamil Nadu’s annual quota of foodgrains will come down by a massive 32% from 3.78 million tonnes to 2.57 million tonnes, while that of Kerala will also come down by the same amount from 1.34 million tonnes to 0.91 million tonnes.

Jammu and Kashmir will be the biggest loser from the schemes as its annual grain allocation from Central government will come down by almost 40%.

The note showed that almost 80.71% of rural population in Uttar Pradesh and 61.25% of urban population will be covered under the Bill. In Bihar, around 86.70% of population in rural areas and 73.16% of population in urban areas will fall under the ambit of the ordinance.

In Tamil Nadu, 65.25% of the rural population will fall under the ambit of the Food Ordinance, while 42.70% of the urban population will fall under the same.

In Kerala, 45.75% of rural population and 38.22% of urban population will fall under the ambit of Ordinance. In Jammu & Kashmir 57.03% of rural population and 52.05% of urban population will get cheap food. The Food Ordinance was promulgated by President Pranab Mukherjee on July 05.