'All except Tamil Nadu to enact Food Security Act by 2016'

Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan said on Monday that all states and union territories, except Tamil Nadu, would implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA) by April 2016.

Stating that the public distribution system was "important to link governments directly to the vulnerable", Paswan, who also holds the charge of consumer affairs, emphasised the need for early implementation of the NFSA.

Tamil Nadu has not indicated any firm date for implementation of NFSA but has indicated that computerisation of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) is likely to be completed by June, 2016 after which implementation of NFSA will be taken up, the ministry said in a statement.

In 2013, the NFSA was enacted to provide food security to 67 percent of the population in the form of highly subsidized foodgrains at Rs.2 and Rs.3 per kg for wheat and rice respectively. The coverage under the NFSA has been delinked from poverty estimates.

During the initial one year provided in the Act for identification of beneficiaries, only 11 states and union territories have started implementing the Act.

Though 11 more states and union territories have started implementing the Act in the last six months, 14 are yet to roll out the NFSA, the statement added.