Intra-Government exercise of UPA-II of passing the National Food Security Ordinance (NFSO) is over. And the follow-up! They are now on the push-the-NFSO-exercise for reaping the maximum electoral benefit of the ordinance.
For the same purpose the Congress party appointed its leader Premchand Mishra. He has to preach and push the ordinance in five States including Jharkhand and one Union Territory. On Tuesday Mishra was in Jharkhand for making people understand the pros and cons of the NFSO, how will it benefit the poverty-ridden people and how Jharkhand (and Bihar) would reap maximum benefit of the ordinance.
He said that Jharkhand would receive maximum volume of grains allocations as per the ordinance alongwith Bihar because these two states had very large number of poor population. While informing that the ordinance also sought to give Rs. 6,000 to pregnant women and to the new-mothers breastfeeding their children, Mishra said the provision would be handy in fighting malnutrition.
Trying to brush aside apprehension of (any) the State Government about bearing expenses in implementation of the scheme he clarified that the centre would fund all the expenses incurred in the implementation. He also added that the State Government would identify the beneficiary but the center government would fund this exercise also.
“There is nothing in the ordinance that should genuinely bother any of the political parties. If somebody or some political parties criticise the ordinance either they don’t understand it or they are politically motivated,” he said.
In the current Financial Year the central government plans to purchase 612.3 lakh tonnes of grain at Rs 1.24 lakh Crore to ensure implementation of the ordinance. National Food Security Ordinance seeks to give five kg of grains per person in a family at very nominal rates. According to the leader the ordinance had also made provisions for monitoring of the Public Distribution System (PDS) so that the leakage from corruption prevailing in it could be stopped.
The ordinance also seeks to recognise women above 18 years of age in a family as family head. This, according to the leader, was a step towards women empowerment. While addressing the media about these provisions Mishra requested Rajendra Prasad Singh, the cabinet minister from Congress Party in the new government, to talk with the State government for speedy implementation of the ordinance.
Singh assured that he would talk to the CM on the issue to ensure speedy implementation of the scheme.