Focus on inclusion of disabled under food security law: GovtThose Out Of The Net Can Get Ration Under PDS, States Told Times of India 31-08-2020
ambika.pan...@timesgroup.com New Delhi: The Centre has asked state governments to focus on inclusion of persons with disabilities under the National Food Security Act so that those still out of the net can get the benefit under the public distribution system. States have also been asked to collect data on disabled beneficiaries which can then be collated into a central database. The ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution and the department of empowerment of persons with disabilities (DEPwD) have written to states and UTs to identify and enrol eligible persons with disabilities (PwDs) as per the NFSA. They have also asked states to reach out with available ration stocks to PwDs who are without ration cards and may not have been covered under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat package. While the food ministry sent out a letter on August 22, DEPwD secretary Shakuntala Gamlin followed up with a letter this week. Citing the letter from the food ministry, Gamlin asked all chief secretaries to involve the departments of food and civil supplies, health and family welfare and the state department dealing with PWDs to identify eligible beneficiaries who can be enrolled under NFSA in a timebound manner. The department of food and public distribution of the Union government in its letter to states reiterated that Atma Nirbhar Bharat package of the central government is for persons who are not covered either under NFSA or any state PDS scheme. In the August 22 letter, it was stated that since this scheme would lapse on August 31 and only one week was left, states may identify such disabled persons who do not have ration cards and provide them foodgrains. “The scheme started in May and it was presumed that all eligible beneficiaries without ration cards including the disabled have been covered. However, it is understood that the ration lifted so far has not been utilised by the states for distributing to eligible beneficiaries without ration cards including the disabled,” it pointed out. It reiterated that disability is one of the criteria for inclusion of beneficiaries under Antyodaya Anna Yojana households. The department also pointed out that since PwDs are a vulnerable section of society, it is imperative that they are also covered by states under the priority households. “Those not already covered under NFSA should be covered with fresh ration cards,” it emphasised. -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to accessindia+unsubscr...@accessindia.org.in. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CADetga81Twvtsg7KKKT1-EsT8jTQ%3Dg7Mo80d1sgN-vw_gfvQcQ%40mail.gmail.com.
