Odisha agrees to implement exclusion criteria for NFSA

Odisha today gave nod to the much-awaited eight exclusion criteria for identification of actual beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act.
By using this criteria the right persons are to be benefited. Bogus ration card holders, APLs counted as BPLs due to erroneous registrations and the problem of real BPL families being deprived of getting the facilities, will all be eliminated, an official release said.
Under the chairmanship of the additional Chief Secretary-cum-Development Commissioner, rigorous exercises had been made by the task force assigned to implement the NFSA.
Four task force meetings and a consultative workshop yielded the consensus of applying eight exclusion criteria.

The exclusion will have simultaneous effect of automatic inclusion of persons like beggars, destitute, pension holder widows, particularly vulnerable tribal groups and persons having 40 per cent or above disabilities, said a senior officer at Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department.
Except Antodaya Anna Yojana, APL families of KBK districts, BPL families across the state, poor/left-out families concepts will be abolished.
However, provisions for SC/ST boarders, fisherman families and persons with differently abled schemes will not be covered under the Act, they said. The state has to shoulder the responsibility for these categories.
The eight exclusion criteria covers monthly income, income tax payee, persons having four wheelers business with PIN number, Electric consumption above 300 units, any state government or central government employee, persons having tractors, power-tillers, fishing boats or other heavy vehicles, persons having entrepreneurship and professional tax payees.