Production of both wheat and paddy is higher than the annual requirement of foodgrains of Gujarat State under NFSA
Secretary (Food), Department of Food & Public Distribution, Government of India Sudhanshu Pandey, reviewed the NFSA implementation and other allied matters with State Government of Gujarat at Gandhinagar.
He expressed that there is the possibility of including more beneficiaries under coverage of NFSA to which State Govt informed that 30 lakh beneficiaries have been added in recent past and they are in process of identifying more beneficiaries through convergence with other central programs like National Social Assistance program, etc.
Production of both wheat and paddy is higher than annual requirement of foodgrains of Gujarat State under NFSA. It was emphasized that State Government should target procuring to the extent of annual requirement which would not only benefit local farmers but also save the transportation cost which is incurred in bringing food grains from other States.
Secretary (Food) informed that Automatic Grain dispensing machines being tested in 5 cities on pilot basis that enable beneficiaries to obtain subsidized food grains without having to visit FPS to provide freedom to the beneficiaries. State Govt of Gujarat also expressed its willingness to install such machine in Ahmedabad city on trial basis.
Plan of Government of India to modernize storage capacity was also discussed. It was informed that Steel Silos of 100 LMT would be created for storage of wheat. As availability of land for creation of silo is major challenge, it was stressed that State Governments should explore the possibility of providing spare land for creation of storage infrastructure.
