Odisha to soon introduce food security act

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday said the state government is going to introduce a holistic food security act very soon.

The act will emphasise agricultural production, marketing and equitable distribution of food grains, he said.

Addressing a district collectors' conference here, the chief minister said all out efforts will be made to raise productivity by creating additional irrigation potential of 10 lakh hectares in the next five years.

"To achieve this objective, Rs.5,000 crore will be spent each year on major, medium and small irrigation projects, deep bore wells, mega lift irrigation projects and restoration of the defunct lift irrigation points," said Patnaik.

He said efforts would also be made for easy access to quality seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and farm mechanisation along with agricultural credit with the lowest percentage of interest to the farmers in the state.

He said the government will create a network of storage facilities, including cold storage chains, threshing floors, drying yards and mandis with sound connectivity with marketing avenues.

"The new act would also ensure equitable distribution of food grains to all with focus on the tribals, slum dwellers and other vulnerable sections of the society. Indicators reflecting the socio economic conditions of a family would also be introduced to make the coverage inclusive and holistic," said Patnaik.

The act will cover about 3.26 crore people with distribution of nearly 72 lakh ration cards to the surveyed families.

Stating that the performance of collectors in invoking the provisions of Black Marketing Act is not up to the mark, the chief minister advised them to personally undertake surprise checks frequently and take steps to prevent black marketing of kerosene.