Odisha seeks inclusion of 34.44 lakh more NFSA beneficiaries

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enhance the number of beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 in the state.

The Chief Minister, in a letter to the Prime Minister, urged to sanction inclusion of 34.44 lakh more beneficiaries of the state under the NFSA.

He also suggested that a mechanism may be put in place wherein the target is modified at regular intervals to increase coverage of the beneficiaries in accordance with the increase in population.

He said Odisha has successfully implemented the Act by providing ration to the given target of 3,26, 41, 800 beneficiaries which is 78% of the 2011 census population of 4,19,74,218.

According to 2011 Census data, the rate of growth of the population of Odisha was 14% in the last decade.

“If we extrapolate this data, then in 2018 the population of Odisha has increased by 10.22 percent as compared to 2011. It is estimated that the total population of Odisha in 2018 would be 4,62,63,983,” Patnaik said.

“Allowing the same percentage of coverage as was decided when the Act came into force, then we are entitled to cover 3,60,85,907 beneficiaries under the NFS Act,” he said.