Food and Public Distribution Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey on Friday convened a meeting of State Food Commissions (SFCs) to review the implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA). In an official release he said the SFCs can get funds for creating awareness among beneficiaries, if they approach the centre through state.

Pandey also urged the commissions to inform the centre about the legal, financial, and administrative difficulties faced by them in discharging of duties, so that these could be corrected.

He said with implementation of NFSA there is a paradigm from a welfare-based approach to one based on legal entitlement in providing food grains to the beneficiaries. He also wanted the SFCs to give specific consideration to vulnerable populations such as people with disabilities, those without shelters, sanitation workers, and ragpickers.

During the meeting, various SFCs raised key concerns of not having independent district grievance redressal officers, convergence between various departments, adequate budget and infrastructure and staff, one-time financial assistance and rationalisation of fair price shops among others.

Andhra Pradesh SFC gave a detailed presentation on initiatives taken during the Covid-19 pandemic such as using village volunteers, cluster resource persons and part-time teachers to distribute meals under the Mid-Day Meal and Integrated Child Development schemes at the doorstep of beneficiaries.

Chhattisgarh said it launched an online complaint that would allow beneficiaries to check the status of their complaints. The State also complained about lack of coordination between various state departments which led to constraints in delivery. Other SFCs too raised their concerns during the review meeting, the statement added.

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