Plan to digest food Bill grievances

As the government moves towards implementing the National Food Security Act, a proposal has been mooted to empower state and district consumer redressal fora to act as grievance redressal offices.

Officials in the know said the proposal was mooted by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), and this was being considered by the department of food and consumer affairs. No decision  has been taken.

“The existing mechanism, already available in the form of district and state consumer disputes redressal fora, could be easily used as grievance redressal offices, under the food security Act, at the district, state and national levels,” said a senior official. He added this would benefit common consumers, too, as going to the courts for non-availability of foodgrains was a cumbersome process.

The National Food Security Act provides for an elaborate three-tier grievance redressal mechanism to ensure beneficiaries exercise their legal right to cheap grains. In the first stage, it calls for setting up a district grievance redressal office in each district where the Act is being implemented. Orders and remarks passed by the district grievance redressal office can be challenged at the state food commission, to be constituted by the state government to monitor and review implementation of the Act.

The commission would comprise a chairperson, a member-secretary (a state government officer, and five other members. Members of the commission would hold office for five years and state governments, along with the Centre, would provide for their allowances and perks.

The Act empowers the commission with all the powers of a civil court. The Consumer Protection Act mandates the establishment of consumer protection councils at the Centre, as well as in each state and district, to promote consumer awareness. This, too, provides for a three-tier structure of national and state commissions and district fora for speedy resolution of consumer disputes, similar to the structure suggested under the food Act.

The National Food Security Bill, which provides legal right to cheap grains to 67 per cent of the country’s population, also gives a right to the beneficiary to file a legal complaint against the non availability of allocated foodgrains.