New Delhi: Lakshadweep will roll out the Natonal Food Security law from August 1, taking the number of states and Union Territories that are implementing the law to 13.
"Lakshadweep is ready to implement the National Food Security Act from August 1. We have issued an order in this regard today," Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan told PTI.
The Union Territory has identified a total of 20,864 beneficiaries and put in place all necessary infrastructure to supply highly subsidised foodgrains via public distribution system (PDS), he said.
The Centre will allocate 385 tonnes of foodgrains every month to meet the PDS demand in Lakshadweep, which is largely dominated by Muslim population, he added.
The Lakshadweep government had informed its preparedness to implement the food law at the food ministers' meeting held in the national capital on July 7.
In the meeting, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Kerala had also assured of implementing the law by September deadline, while the rest had sought more time.
The National Food Security Act was passed by Parliament in September 2013 when the UPA was in power. The deadline for implementing the same has been extended thrice, with the latest one in September.
At present, 12 states/UTs -- Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, Chandigarh and West Bengal -- have implemented the Act, some of them fully and others partially.
The law aims to provide legal entitlement of 5 kg of subsidised foodgrains per person per month at Rs 1-3/kg to two-thirds of the country's population.
At present, the Centre is allocating foodgrains to 11 states/UTs as per the new food law while the rest are getting foodgrain quota according to earlier PDS guidelines.
