1. Odisha government to provide free rice for one year under the State Food Security Scheme
Tags: Government Schemes State News
The Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha will provide free 5 Kg rice per month to the beneficiaries under the State Food Security Scheme for one year. This was announced by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik on 3 January 2023.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office the total expenditure for the scheme will be Rs 185 crore which will be borne by the state government
Earlier the Government of India made the foodgrains provided under the National Food Security Act 2013 to the beneficiaries free for one year from 1 January 2023.
The Odisha government launched its own State Food Security Scheme on 2 October 2018 for those poor people who were not covered under the National Food Security Act 2013. These beneficiaries were provided 5Kg of rice at Re1 per kg.
Under the National Food Security Act the Antodaya Anna Yojana beneficiaries get 35 kg of food grains (rice or wheat or coarse cereals) per month and the Priority Household gets 5kg per person per month.
Odisha
The State of Orissa was founded on 1 April 1936 after it was separated from the Bengal presidency.
1 April is celebrated as Utkal Dibas or Odisha divas in Odisha.
Odisha was earlier called as Orissa. Its name was changed to Odisha in 2011.
Governor of Odisha: Ganeshi Lal
Capital: Its capital was at Cuttack but it was shifted to Bhubaneswar on 19 August 1949.
2. 81 crore people to get free foodgrains for one year under NFSA
Tags: Government Schemes National News
The government on 23 December decided to provide free foodgrains to 81.35 crore people for one year under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) at an estimated cost of Rs 2 lakh crore. It will be implemented from 1 January 2023.
Important facts
- As per the cabinet decision, beneficiaries under NFSA will get free food grains for one year till December 2023.
- The decision comes a few days before the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) expires on December 31, 2022.
- The beneficiaries will not have to pay a single rupee to get foodgrains.
About PMGKAY
- It is a food security welfare scheme announced by the Central Government in March 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
- It is a part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) to help the poor in the fight against COVID-19.
- The program is run by the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
- Under the programme more than 80 crore beneficiaries are provided 5 kg free wheat/rice per person per month.
- It is the largest food security program in the world.
Objective of the scheme
- To provide food security to all priority households (ration card holders and those identified by the Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme), to provide food grains to India's poorest citizens through the Public Distribution System.
National Food Security (NFS) Act, 2013
- It aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
- This includes Re 3 per kg of rice, Re 2 per kg of wheat and Re 1 per kg of coarse grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
- It converts the existing food security programs of the Government of India into a legal mandate.
- The existing food security programs include the mid-day meal scheme, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
