Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday reviewed the targets and achievements of the Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department during the last four years and the fulfillment of the assurances given in the manifesto. Food Supplies, Consumer Welfare & Cooperation Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak presented details of fulfilling the assurances given in the election manifesto and other transformative steps undertaken by the department during the last four years for achieving the targets.
Nayak highlighted the following achievements under the election manifesto:
- No eligible and distressed person is left out of the food security scheme. In order to cover them, the target under the State Food Security Scheme is dynamic.
- In order to cover more small and marginal farmers in paddy procurement operations, a robust, transparent, and technology-based system has been put in place. As a result, in the last four years, there has been a 300% increase in the number of marginal farmers and a 60% increase in the number of small farmers who are selling paddy to the government and getting benefits of Minimum Support Price (MSP) operations.
- In the last four years, 35% more farmers (5 lakhs) have registered with the government to sell their surplus paddy.
Nayak highlighted the following transformative steps taken by the department under 5T and MO Sarkar initiatives:
- More women’s self-help groups (WSHG) and gram panchayats have been involved in PDS distribution. As of date, about 60% of the PDS distribution in the State is carried out by them.
- Odisha is the first state in the country that has involved WSHGs in paddy procurement operations. About 687 WSHGs are doing paddy procurement in the State.
- After a pilot project in Malkangiri district, the rice fortification programme has been extended to all welfare schemes in all 30 districts of the state. This will help with the nutritional needs of the people.
- The department has also started home delivery of rations for the old, infirm, and critically-ill patients.
- The department is ensuring payment to the farmers of their MSP within 24-48 hours which is one of the fastest in the country.
At the same time, the Food Supplies, Consumer Welfare & Cooperation Minister highlighted the following awards and recognition received by his department during the period.
- Odisha ranked No. 1 state in the country in the State Ranking Index 2021-22 by the Department of Food & Public Distribution, Government of India, for NFSA implementation.
- IIM Ahmedabad has taken up Odisha’s achievement as a case study and is doing research on the methodology Odisha adopted for the successful implementation of NFSA & SFSS.
- Odisha pioneered the implementation of the rice fortification programme in the country under all schemes i.e. PDS/MDM/PM-POSHAN/ICDS/OWS in all 30 districts of the state. Also, we are a major contributor of fortified rice to the central pool.
- FS&CW Department has been awarded Planet Purpose Award 2023 for the project “Village-wise plot level Analysis of Paddy crop growing areas using Satellite Imagery”. Odisha is the only state in the country that utilises satellite imagery, the high-end technology for validation of paddy crop growing areas.
- Missions from WFP Iraq and Libya visited Odisha to learn about the paddy procurement and TPDS Automation System functioning in the state. Iraq adopts the PDS Supply Chain Module of Odisha.
- A high-level ministerial delegation from Nepal visited Odisha to study the implementation of NFSA and End-to-End Computerization of TPDS in May 2022.
