Millions of poor not yet under food safety net, House panel told | Latest News India
The government has told a parliamentary standing committee that it cannot add more beneficiaries to the list of recipients of free monthly food handouts until the next census, despite an increase in population, which implies that many poverty-stricken households remain outside the welfare net. Nearly three in four people in India couldn’t afford a healthy diet in 2021, according to a Food and Agriculture Organization report. (HT File) Answering queries of the standing committee on food and public distribution, the food ministry said about 7.9 million people are still left to be covered under the public distribution system or PDS for various reasons despite being eligible, based on population figures from the 2011 census. Asked by the panel about problems faced in implementing the country’s food-security law, the ministry stated: “At the time of implementation of the National Food Security Act, the latest published figures of Census pertaining to the year 2011 was used to determine the coverage of all States/Union Territories (UTs). Therefore, any revision in the coverage under the NFSA shall be possible …
