Odisha seeks release of shortfall in rice allocation under NFSA

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday requested the Central government to release shortfall allocation of about 99,960 tonnes of rice under National Food Security Act (NFSA) for the period from November 2015 to February 2017.

In a letter to Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, he also requested to withdraw the surplus wheat allocated to the state but not used.

During the period November 2015 to February 2017 there was a difference between the Central government's allocation and food grains demanded by the beneficiaries, and this led to less allocation of 99,960.154 MT of rice and excess allocation of 7,322.05 MT of wheat, he said.

Patnaik also said that the distribution of food grains to meet the food security of the poor cannot wait for rectification of the allocation order.

Hence, in anticipation of allocation from the Central government, the state distributed rice and wheat as per the options exercised by the beneficiaries, said Patnaik.

"Since food grains have already been distributed, it is requested that 99,960.154 MT of rice may be released out of Central pool and the surplus wheat allocated, which has not been utilised by the state, may be withdrawn. This will help in squaring up the accounts," he said.

The total quantity of rice and wheat to be distributed is calculated based on the options exercised by the beneficiaries out of the food grains combination of 5 kg per person per month for priority households.

--IANS

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