The implementation of the ambitious Food Security Bill of the Centre would start in Maharashtra from December. More than 60 per cent of the population would benefit from it. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday after many hours of debate with many alterations.
The scheme aims to provide food grains to economically backward families at very cheap rates.
Out of the total 11.23 crore of Maharashtra’s population, around 7.17 crore will be covered under the scheme, which is nearly 64.83 per cent of the state’s total population, the food and civil supply minister Anil Deshmukh said on Tuesday.
“The total monthly distribution of the food grain would be increased to 4 lakh metric tonnes from the existing consumption of 3.95 lakh metric tonnes. Of the total beneficiaries, 4.70 crore people are from rural areas, while 2.30 crore are from the urban areas of the state that is 76.32 per cent and 45.34 per cent of the total population respectively,” the minister said.
He added that the government would have to spend `800 crore per month on the subsidised food grains apart from other annual expenditure of `500 crore for transportation, storage and handling charges.
For effective implementation of the scheme, the state is also replacing the existing ration cards with computerised bar coded cards. “All the existing ration cards in three categories would be scrapped and replaced with bar coded cards in two categories,” the minister added.
To ensure smooth distribution of food grains, the government has decided to appoint a five member State Food Commission, Mr Deshmukh said. “The officer responsible for refraining the beneficiaries from getting the fruits of the scheme and would be punished with a fine of `5000,” he added.