Bhubaneswar: Odisha has been ranked as No. 1 performing state in the country by the Central government in its recently published ‘State Ranking Index for NFSA 2022′.
This was announced by Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal at the Conference of Food Ministers on Food and Nutrition Security in India at New Delhi on Tuesday.
While Odisha has topped the list of general category states, Tripura has bagged first rank among the special category states. Odisha is followed by Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. The ranking, that has been generated for the first time, would be released every year.
The assessment framework for ranking the States and Union Territories is built on the following three key pillars which cover the end-to-end implementation of National Food Security Act (NFSA) through Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS):
– NFSA – Coverage, targeting and provisions of the Act
– Delivery Platform
-Nutrition initiatives
Expressing his happiness on Odisha rank, Minister of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare, Cooperation Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak said it has been possible for the foresight and vision of Chief Minister Naveen Patanaik. He also thanked all officers of the Department for their continuous effort to achieve the position.
Since implementation of NFSA in the state in 2015, Odisha has followed it up with an end-to-end computerisation of TPDS operations. A digitised beneficiaries database of 3.25 crore has been hosted in public domain, dynamically updated in 378 Ration Card Management System (RCMS) centres, one each in 314 blocks and 64 Urban Local Bodies (UKBs), a department release stated.
All the 152 food storage depots of the department have been fully automated with provision for real-time electronic recording of doorstep delivery of 1.87 lakh tonne foodgrains per month at 12,133 Fair Price Shops across the state. All the Fair Price Shops are equipped with electronic Point of Sale (e-PoS) devices which ensure distribution to PDS beneficiaries through automated mode.
One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) programme has also been implemented in the state since July 2021. Around 1.10 lakh families are receiving ration through the intra-state facility and 533 families receiving ration through inter-state facility every month. Keeping in view the network connectivity, 10578 fair price shops have been made ONORC-enabled shops out of total 12206.
