Daily News Analysis » State Ranking Index for National Food Security Act

State Ranking Index for National Food Security Act

Why in the News?

Recently, the Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs released the first edition of ‘State Ranking Index for NFSA’ 2022.

Key Points

About ‘State Ranking Index for NFSA’ 2022

  • The current edition of the Index is intended to assess the efficacy of NFSA implementation primarily through TPDS (Targeted Public Distribution System).
  • It focuses on NFSA and TPDS reforms, which can be standardized across the states and union territories.
  • The states and UTs were ranked based on three parameters:
    • Measures coverage of NFSA, rightful targeting, and implementation of all provisions under NFSA.
    • Analyzes the delivery platform, while considering the allocation of foodgrains, their movement, and last-mile delivery to Fair Price Shops (FPS).
    • Nutrition initiatives of the department.
  • Ranking
    • Odisha has topped the rank followed by Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
    • Tripura, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim secured the top positions among special category states.
  • Significance
    • Healthy Competition: The state rankings for food distribution will encourage more competition to improve systems.
    • Create Transparency: It would create transparency in the system to publish reliable and standard data in the public domain.

The National Food Security Act (NFSA) provides a legal right to persons belonging to “eligible households” to receive foodgrains at subsidised prices.

  • Rice at Rs 3/kg,
  • Wheat at Rs 2/kg and
  • coarse grain at Re 1/kg under the TPDS. These are called central issue prices (CIPs).