BERHAMPUR: Above 3.26 crores of the population of the State would be provided five kgs of rice or wheat per month under National Food Security Policy (NFSP) in addition to the existing schemes for the underprivileged, informed Food and Supply Commissioner Madhusudan Padhy on Monday.
Addressing Collectors of 10 southern districts at the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (South) office here, Padhy said all possible measures have been taken to make the implementation of the policy transparent and free of corruption.
He said under NFSP, the identified beneficiaries would get rice and wheat at a subsidised rate. After faults in old ration cards came to fore, the State Government has decided to distribute new cards on the basis of NPR information to the beneficiaries.
The distribution of ration cards would start from Bhubaneswar and its nearby areas. Keeping the discrepancies in paddy procurement in view, the Government has prepared a new policy, Padhy added. As per the new policy, farmers would be paid the cost pf paddy procured from them through banks after they fill up the prescribed forms.
The enlisted millers, who have been entrusted to procure paddy from farmers, need to update their details and new millers to get their names enlisted by September 30.
This year, the Government has fixed procurement price of kharif paddy at `1360 per quintal and for A-grade paddy `1400 per quintal. ‘
Swachh Odisha by 2019’
The State Government is positive of completing the ‘Swachh Bharat’ project by 2019, much ahead of the 2022 deadline set by the Central Government, said T Binod Kumar Shroff, Director of Water and Sanitation Support Organisation that has been set up in the State under Odisha State Water and Sanitation Mission.
Speaking at the Collectors’ meet on Sunday, Shroff said 50 villages have been identified to be covered under the ‘Swachh Bharat’ project in the first phase.
A target has been fixed to make 284 villages as model villages under the project. By 2015, lavatories would come up in 13031 schools, 6000 anganwadi centres and 181 common service centres.
RDC (South) Bikash Chandra Mohapatra said the Collectors will play an important role in implementation of the ‘Swachh Bharat’ project. He said community-led total sanitation workers would be deployed in each block to supervise project work.