Odisha has been ranked as the No. 1 performing state in the country by the Government of India, in their recently published ‘State Ranking Index for NFSA’ 2022-creating resilient food systems to optimize the delivery of benefits’.
The Government of India has recognised Odisha as the best performing state in the nation, according to Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal, who made the announcement on Tuesday in New Delhi at the Conference of “Food Ministers on Food and Nutrition Security in India.”
This was said in a study on the “State Ranking Index for NFSA’ 2022-creating resilient food systems to maximise the delivery of benefits” that was released by the Indian government.
In expressing his satisfaction over Odisha being ranked first in the nation, Minister of Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare, Cooperation Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak stated, “It has only been achieved because of the foresight and vision of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has also expressed gratitude to the Department Officers for their ongoing efforts to bring about this glory.
Three major pillars are used to evaluate the Staes and Union Territories and outline how the NFSA is implemented through TPDS from beginning to end: NFSA – Delivery Platform, Nutrition Initiatives, Coverage, Targeting, and Act Provisions.
Since the National Food Security Act went into force in the State of Odisha in 2015, the state has placed strong end-to-end computerization of TPDS operations in place. In a public database that is dynamically updated by 378 Ration Card Management System (RCMS) Centers, one in each of 314 Blocks and 64 Urban Local Bodies, about 3.25 crore recipients have been digitally documented.
Each Fair Price Shop has electronic point of sale (e-PoS) systems installed.
All 152 food storage facilities of the Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department, which have been fully automated with the option for real-time computerised recording of doorstep delivery, supply about 12,133 Fair Price Shops in the state with 1.87 lakh MT of foodgrains per month. Every Fair Price Shop has Electronic Point of Sale (e-PoS) equipment installed to guarantee automated delivery to PDS recipients.
Beginning in July 2021, the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) Program entered into effect throughout the state. PDS recipients can now travel within and between states using their ration cards, and they can pick up their monthly benefits from any reasonable price shops that suit them. Over 1.10 lakh families receive rations through the intra-state system, while 533 families receive rations through the inter-state system each month. 12,206 fair price stores have been transformed into ONORC-enabled outlets, with 10578 of those conversions taking network connectivity into consideration. Once network access in those places of fair-priced shops improves, the number could rise.
The Odisha government has been implementing the “Supply of Fortified Rice under Public Distribution in Malkangiri district” trial programme from July 2021. Under the NFSA and State Food Security Scheme, 3,138 MT of fortified rice is delivered each month to roughly 1.29 lakh families with 4.66 lakh individuals. Aside from the PDS, the department has begun gradually delivering fortified rice to the School & Mass Education Department for the PM-POSHAN (formerly MDM) programme and to the Women & Child Development Department for the SNP programme (Pilot).
Prasanta Patnaik