As the Congress-led Haryana government gears up to roll out Centre's Food Security Ordinance from August 20, it has sought allocation of additional 70,000 tonne of wheat per month to implement it. "We have written to the Centre to allocate monthly additional 70,000 tonne of wheat based on the expected population to be covered under the Food Security Ordinance," a senior official of Haryana Food and Supply department said in Chandigarh on Tuesday.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has already announced to implement the Food Security Ordinance from August 20 and has also committed to provide pulses to beneficiaries at Rs 20 per kg. Under the Ordinance, Haryana government expects 1.3 crore beneficiaries in rural and urban areas will be covered which will be almost 51.6 per cent of the state's population.
In order to identify eligible beneficiaries under Food Security Ordinance, the government will use data collected by ministry of rural and urban development during socio-economic survey. "We will filter this data to work out the number of beneficiaries," he said. Asked about its earlier demand for bearing infrastructure cost for procurement and distribution of foodgrain, the official said there was no need for seeking additional funds to implement the Ordinance.
"Centre is allocating foodgrain...and it will also bear transportation cost for delivering it. FCI has its godowns...procurement facility is in place and NABARD is already providing financial assistance for storage. Therefore, there is no need for any additional funds," he said. Haryana had also raised concerns regarding expenditure to be involved in maintenance of grain markets, staff cost and construction of roads and had sought financial assistance from the Centre for it.
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